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THE  IMPORTANCE  OF 
BIRD  LIFE 

A  POPULAR  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  ECONOMIC 
SIGNIFICANCE  AND  CONSERVATION 

BY 
G.  INNESS  HARTLEY 


^c 


^ 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1922 


Copyright,   1922,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


PEINTBD  IN"  IT.   S.  A» 


PREFACE 

Coal-  and  iron-mines  are  largely  responsible  for 
rapid  development  of  the  United  States.  From 
California,  Nevada,  Alaska,  and  elsewhere  vast 
deposits  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  a  multitude 
of  metals,  some  precious  and  others  base  though 
valuable,  have  presented  enormous  wealth  to  our 
country.  Our  great  subterranean  lakes  of  oil 
have  made  possible  the  expansion  of  the  gas-en- 
gine and  the  automobile  to  their  present  state  of 
efficiency.  For  centuries  the  banks  of  Newfound- 
land have  filled  our  markets  with  fish.  To  the 
forests  of  Maine,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Ore- 
gon we  owe  a  debt  for  timber  which  can  never  be 
repaid.  From  Alaska  come  sealskins,  fertilizer 
from  the  phosphatic  accumulations  of  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Florida,  wild  hay  from  the  prairies,  and 
so  on  through  the  mile-long  list.  The  resources 
of  America  are  immeasurable. 

But,  while  we  prick  up  our  ears  upon  being  in- 
formed that  this  fishery  produces  so  many  tons 
of  fish  worth  so  much,  or  that  from  that  oyster- 
bed  may  annually  be  taken  ten  million  oysters,  or 
that  so-and-so's  manganese-mine  accounted  for  a 
hundred  car-loads  of  ore  last  year,  we  show  little 


PREFACE 

interest  when  we  are  told  that  a  sparrow  hawk 
captures  ten  score  field-mice  a  year  and  innum- 
erable grasshoppers.  Yet  those  very  sparrow 
hawks  save  the  American  farmer  considerably 
more  than  the  combined  worth  of  the  fishery,  the 
oyster-bed,  and  the  manganese-mine  together. 

A  large  amount  of  valuable  matter  has  been 
written  on  the  economic  relations  of  birds  to  ag- 
riculture, their  relation  to  man  as  game  birds, 
domesticated  fowl,  producers  of  guano,  ornamen- 
tal plumage  bearers,  cage  birds,  and  food.  But 
each  of  these  is  a  specialized  field  and  has  been 
treated  separately  as  such.  One  to  obtain  infor- 
mation concerning  the  agricultural  value  of  birds 
is  compelled  to  turn  to  a  treatise  on  economic  or- 
nithology; for  their  domestication  you  must  pur- 
sue a  poultry  book ;  other  volumes  deal  with  game- 
birds  and  game-laws,  with  cage  birds  or  ornamen- 
tal plumes. 

In  the  following  pages  the  author  has  endeav- 
ored to  discuss  the  importance  of  bird  life  to  man- 
kind in  all  its  economic  phases.  Owing  to  lack  of 
space,  he  has  not  laid  particular  stress  either  up- 
on its  effect  on  agriculture  or  upon  the  domestica- 
tion of  the  fowl.  These  are  admittedly  the  most 
important  functions  of  bird  life  from  man^s  point 
of  view  and  have  been  largely  dealt  with  in  other 
volumes.  The  author  contents  himself  with  rather 
a  brief  resume  of  these  functions  and  passes  on 
to  less  notable,  though  highly  important,  fields. 


PREFACE 

In  collecting  material  for  this  volume  the  author 
acknowledges  special  indebtedness  for  the  publica- 
tions of  the  State  Conservation  Commission  of 
New  York,  the  Board  of  Game  Commissioners  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture.  He  here  desires  to  thank  Dr. 
William  T.  Hornaday,  director  of  the  New  York 
Zoological  Park,  and  Lee  S.  Crandal,  curator  of 
birds  at  the  same  institution,  for  their  personal 
interest  and  aid  in  his  work. 

G.  Inness  Hartley. 

Southampton,  Long  Island,  July  1,  1922. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGB 

I     Their  Place  in  Nature 3 

II     Their  Relation   to  Agriculture    ...     24 

III  Their  Effect  Upon  Health  and  the  Works 

OF   Majst 51 

IV  Domestic  Fowl 59 

V    Domestic  Pigeons 86 

VI  Birds  Trained  to  Hunt 114 

VII  Birds  Trained  to  Perform      .     .     .     .     .  134 

VIII  Ornamental  Plumes 154 

IX  Feather  Industries 176 

X  Guano 196 

XI  Birds  as  Food 213 

XII  Game-birds 233 

XIII  Game-laws 259 

XIV  A  Conservation  Sketch 286 

Appendix t.     .     .  302 

Index 307 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  Quintette  of  Mouse  Destroyers  .     .     .    Frontispiece 

TACIVQ  FAQS 

A  Million  Birds  on  One  Island 8 

The  Rookeries  Lie  Like  Dark  Shadows  of  Immovable 

Clouds 8 

Buff  Orpin^on   Cock 72 

Buff  Orpington   Capon 72 

The  Red  Jungle  Fowl 72 

Silky   Bantams 72 

A  Loft  of  Homing  Pigeons,  Showing  the  Trap  Door  104 

The  Message  Is  Placed  in  a  Metal  Cylinder  Fastened 
to  the  Leg  of  the  Bird 104 

Almost  Exterminated  for  the  Plumage  Trade  .     .  168 

Bought  in  London,  1912 176 

Victoria    Crowned    Pigeon,    the    Bird    Which    Is 

Scalped  for  Its  Lacy  Plumes 176 

Albatrosses  of  Laysan  Island  Before  the  Tragedy  176 

1050  Plumes  of  the  B*ird  of  Paradise,  Seized  by  the 

U.   S.   Customs   Officers 184 

A  Pair  of  Nubians 184 

Disused  Cormorant  Nests,  Showing  Guano  Ready 

for  Gathering 224 

A  Cabot's  Tern  Colony  in  Texas .224 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING    PAGE 

The  Hunt  for  Down,  Plumage  and  Food  Extermi- 
nated These 232 

The  Market  Hunters  Return   .      .      .      .      .      .      .248 

Wild  Ducks  Killed  Under  the  Law 278 

Canada  Goose  and  Her  Brood  of  Goslings  .      .      .  278 

The  Result  of  Conservation 296 

View  of  the  Rearing  Field  on  the  Virginia  State 

Quail  Farm 296 

A  Flock  of  Bob-Whites  and  Their  Bantam  Mother    296 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF 
BIRD  LIFE 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF 
BIRD  LIFE 


CHAPTER  I 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE 


1.  Population.  2.  Natural  Enemies.  3.  Destruction  of  Inaects. 
4.  Effect  on  Vegetation.  5.  Destruction  of  Vertebrates.  6. 
Minor  Relations.     7.  Summary. 


Population 

Quite  the  most  obvious  of  all  the  laws  of  nature 
is  the  one  that  requires  all  living  organisms  to 
consume  food  in  one  form  or  another  to  enable 
them  to  survive  and  multiply.  This  food  as  a 
general  rule  consists  of  other  living  organisms. 
Plant  life  alone  is  able  to  obtain  sustenance  di- 
rectly from  the  chemical  elements  of  the  soil. 

Deer,  for  instance,  relish  as  food  the  blades  of 
grass ;  but  the  wolf  and  certain  other  carnivorous 
beasts  equally  relish  the  flesh  of  the  deer.  And  it 
is  fortunate  for  the  welfare  of  the  grazing  race 
that  this  is  so.    Without  a  host  of  deadly  enemies, 


4       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

— including  disease,  climatical  alterations,  and 
the  elements,  as  well  as  living  creatures, — deer 
theoretically  would  multiply  at  such  a  rapid  rate 
that  the  North  American  continent  would  be  over- 
nin  within  a  few  decades.  The  soil  could  not  pro- 
duce sufficient  fodder  for  their  needs ;  the  verdure 
would  be  grazed  to  death.  As  a  result,  the  deer 
would  starve :  the  species  would  die  out,  extermi- 
nated by  its  own  prolificacy. 

One  of  the  chief  instruments  chosen  by  nature 
to  combat  this  excessive  production  is  the  carni- 
vore; and  the  deer,  however  paradoxical  it  may 
sound,  is  really  saved  by  its  most  feared  and 
deadly  enemies.  The  Balance  of  Nature  is  main- 
tained, and  it  is  this  Balance  which  permits  the 
world  to  carry  on  where  otherwise  it  would  choke 
itself  to  death. 

Like  the  deer,  birds,  if  permitted  to  multiply 
unmolested,  would  increase  at  an  appalling  rate, 
four  or  five  times  faster  than  the  animals.  The 
avian  class  by  so  much  the  sooner  would  become 
extinct  through  overpopulation.  Fortunately  for 
the  world  in  general,  unless  man  is  the  extermi- 
nator, such  a  catastrophe  cannot  overtake  us. 
The  natural  enemies  of  birds  are  far  too  numer- 
ous to  permit  of  so  rapid  an  expansion. 

Despite  these  enemies,  birds  survive  in  untold 
multitudes.  It  is  due  to  their  superior  mode  of 
travel  that  they  are  so  universally  scattered  over 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  5 

the  land  surfaces  of  the  earth.  There  exists 
scarcely  a  single  sea-swept  rock,  sand  spit,  or  coral 
key  which  is  not  the  home  of  some  form  of  feath- 
ered life.  The  north  and  south  polar  regions, 
during  their  respective  summer  seasons,  are  over- 
run with  countless  hordes  of  geese  and  penguins. 
The  mountain  tops  have  special  species  of  their 
own.  The  Sahara  Desert  is  populated  with  a  few 
small  birds  and  a  multitude  of  vultures.  Even 
the  oceans  boast  of  a  winged  fauna  of  albatrosses, 
phalaropes,  gulls,  and  petrels. 

Not  only  have  birds  world-wide  distribution, 
but  their  species  are  the  most  numerous  of  all  ver- 
tebrated  animals.  Insects  and  mollusks,  alone  of 
all  the  animal  kingdom,  surpass  them  in  this  re- 
spect. To-day  there  are  known  to  exist  about 
19,000  species  and  subspecies  of  birds,  and  numer- 
ous newly  described  forms  are  annually  being 
added  to  the  list.  Against  these  may  be  named 
in  the  scientific  calendar  something  more  than 
15,000  species  of  fish,  about  1000  of  amphibians, 
roughly  3500  of  reptiles,  and  of  mammals,  the 
class  which  we  commonly  associate  with  the 
greatest  number  of  forms  of  all,  only  4500! 

Of  the  now  existing  continents.  South  America, 
with  its  gigantic  rain  forest,  contains  the  most 
varied  bird  fauna.  Upward  of  5000  racial  forms 
have  thus  far  been  described  from  there,  and  prob- 
ably when  the  entire  region  has  been  exploited 


6        THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

several  thousand  more  will  be  added.^  In  North 
America  there  are  about  1200  forms  listed.  Eu- 
rope, Asia,  Africa,  and  Australia  are  rich  in  forms, 
but  a  combined  census — minus  a  thousand  or  two 
island  subspecies — shows  them  to  contain  alto- 
gether scarcely  more  than  the  two  continents  of 
the  Western  Hemisphere. 

Although  fish  lead  in  actual  total  number,  birds 
make  not  a  bad  second  when  compared  with  the 
comparatively  meager  numerical  strength  of  the 
remaining  vertebrates.  We  know  that  seventy 
years  ago  hundreds  of  thousands  of  bison  roamed 
the  plains  of  the  West  in  herds  so  vast  that  they 
extended  beyond  the  horizon.  Within  the  present 
generation,  even  to-day,  fifty  and  seventy  thou- 
sand caribou  may  constitute  a  single  herd  on  the 
frozen  prairies  of  northern  Canada  and  Alaska. 
Audubon,  however,  in  1813,  observed  a  flock  of 
passenger  pigeons  which  took  three  days  to  fly 
past  a  certain  point! 

There  were  more  than  two  and  a  quarter  hillion 
pigeons  in  that  one  drove.  ^^The  air  was  literally 
filled  with  Pigeons,  the  light  of  noonday  was 
obscured  as  by  an  eclipse.  .  .  .'*  Stefansson, 
the  arctic  explorer,  tells  of  Banks  Island  and 
neighboring  lands  several  hundred  miles  north 

1  Eacial  forms  as  opposed  to  species  are  geographical  sub- 
divisions of  the  latter,  generally  diverging  from  the  type  in 
color,  size,  or  both.  Thus,  for  example,  there  are  described 
twenty-two  races,  or  subspecies,  of  the  common  song  sparrow. 
{Melospiza  m.  melodia) ,  all  found  in  North  America. 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  7 

of  the  arctic  circle  as  being  ''white  with  millions 
of  wavy  geese''  (perhaps  snow-geese)  in  the 
breeding  season.  Good  authorities  state  that  nine 
million  penguins  inhabit  Dassen  Island  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and  R.  C.  Murphy,  of  the 
American  Museum,  speaks  of  almost  a  million 
cormorants  living  on  a  tiny  island  off  the  coast  of 
Peru.  While  it  is  difficult  to  visualize  these  mil- 
lions without  seeing  them,  they  nevertheless  react 
as  a  vivid  contrast  to  the  puny  thousands  of  bison 
and  caribou. 

Therefore,  because  of  their  almost  universal 
distribution  and  the  incalculable  numbers  in  which 
we  find  them,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  birds 
play  a  major  part  in  the  really  small  cosmos  of  our 
planet.  Theirs  is  a  great  mission,  a  mission  which 
is  undertaken  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  cour- 
age. In  a  large  measure  they  preserve  the  Balance 
of  Nature,  in  that  they  check  the  swelling  hordes 
of  insects,  control  the  spread  of  plant  life,  replant 
denuded  land  surfaces,  and  extirpate  or  control 
the  small  vertebrates  that  first  ravaged  the  vege- 
tation of  the  world  and  then  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  crops  of  mankind.  They  are  a  power- 
ful factor. 

2 

Natural  Enemies 

Among  the  natural  enemies  of  birds  disease 
probably  holds  a  far  more  important  position  than 


8        THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

is  generally  supposed.  Social  species,  those  that 
live  in  flocks,  are  particularly  subject  to  its  rav- 
ages. Thousands  of  crows  die  each  year  in  a 
single  roost  from  the  effects  of  a  virulent  throat 
and  nostril  malady  which  may  possibly  wipe  out 
the  entire  community.  There  is  a  *^  grouse  dis- 
ease'' in  Grreat  Britain  which  has  accounted  for 
tens  of  thousands  of  game-birds.  Others  are 
attacked  by  a  form  of  tuberculosis,  and  great 
numbers  of  sandpipers  each  spring  are  left  behind 
on  their  northerly  migration  from  South  America 
because  of  diseased  sexual  organs. 

Changes  of  climate  and  storms  also  take  an 
appreciable  tolL  It  has  been  said  by  more  than 
one  good  authority  that  an  icy  winter  kills  more 
game-birds  than  all  the  human  hunters  combined. 
This  statement,  in  the  present  day  of  millions  of 
eager  gunners,  perhaps  is  stretching  the  actual 
facts,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  entire 
coveys  of  bob-white  quail  and  other  gallinaceous 
fowl  are  frozen  stiff  in  cold,  sleety  weather.  Land 
birds  driven  to  sea  by  storms  during  their  migra- 
tions have  been  known  to  succumb  in  thousands. 
This  is  one  of  the  causes,  though  probably  not  the 
true  one,  given  for  the  sudden  disappearance  of 
the  passenger  pigeon.  Still  other  birds,  unable  to 
migrate  south  in  the  winter'  because  of  disease, 
injury,  or  old  age,  starve  to  death. 

Certain  species  do  not  leave  the  temperate  cli- 
mate in   which   they   are    born.     In   the   winter 


Courtesy  of  Dr.  R.  C.  Murphy 

A   MILLION    BIRDS    ON    ONE    ISLAND 


Courtesy  of  Dr.  R.  C.  Murphy 

THE  ROOKERIES  LIE  LIKE  DARK  SHADOWS  OF  IMMOVABLE  CLOUDS  ON  THE  SLOPING 
EXPANSES  OF    ROCK,    WHITENED    WITH    CHALKY    GUANO 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  9 

months  they  become  the  prey  of  a  host  of  preda- 
ceous  creatures.  When  the  soil  is  frozen  and  the 
field-mice  are  safely  burrowed  in  their  warm  win- 
ter nests,  then  goshawks,  Cooper's  hawks,  sharp- 
shinned  hawks,  horned  owls,  and  others  descend 
upon  the  weaker  members  of  the  bird  tribe.  An 
occasional  rabbit  is  added  to  their  menu,  but  game- 
and  song-birds  are  their  choicest  morsels.  They 
take  a  fair  toll  in  the  spring  and  summer  months, 
but  alleviate  it  somewhat  with  mice  and  other 
small  rodents. 

Hawks  and  owls  are  not  the  only  creatures  that 
prey  upon  the  less  ferocious  species.  Keeping 
them  company  are  the  ^^ vermin,''  individually 
known  are  weasels,  skunks,  lizards,  snakes,  and 
the  like.  A  fox  seeks  out  a  bird  as  it  would  the 
daintiest  titbit.  Cats  of  the  tabby  variety,  which 
have  long  forgotten  the  meaning  of  a  home  hearth, 
utilize  them  as  a  staple  article  of  diet.  Lizards 
wax  fat  on  their  eggs,  as  do  snakes  of  many 
varieties. 

Nor  are  ** vermin"  and  a  few  species  of  hawks 
and  owls  the  only  animal  enemies  of  bird  kind. 
To  a  certain  extent  the  birds  war  upon  themselves. 
Crows  and  jays  rob  a  nest  of  its  eggs  or  young 
as  much  to  satisfy  their  marauding  instincts  a& 
for  food,  and  they  are  not  averse  to  raiding  the 
home  of  one  of  their  own  species:  they  do  con- 
siderable damage.  Where  there  are  large  colo- 
nies of  breeding  cormorants  and  other  sea-birds^ 


10      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

guUs  reap  a  rich  harvest  of  eggs  and  nestlings. 
Condors,  until  driven  off  by  watchmen,  created 
much  havoc  among  the  great  guano  rookeries  of 
Peru.  Skuas  hold  the  penguins  of  anarctic  re- 
gions in  check. 

From  the  foregoing  it  would  seem  as  if  the  odds 
against  survival  are  so  overwhelming  that  birds 
will  soon  be  but  memories  of  the  past.  The  limit- 
ing barrier,  however,  is  not  so  mighty  as  it  ap- 
pears. Birds  as  a  whole  are  extremely  prolific. 
When  matured,  owing  to  their  power  of  flight, 
they  are  difficult  of  capture.  F^inally,  they 
<3arry  on  a  not  ineffective  strife  with  their  en- 
emies, inflicting  at  times  as  much  damage  as  they 
receive.  Thus,  while  certain  hawks  and  owls 
prefer  a  diet  of  bird  flesh,  others,  like  the  red- 
tailed  or  so-called  ^^ hen-hawk,''  the  American 
sparrow-hawk,  and  the  majority  of  owls,  subsist 
mainly  on  ** vermin''  in  its  varying  forms.  Some 
kites  and  another  *^ hen-hawk,"  the  red-shouldered 
species,  delight  in  the  flesh  of  lizards  and  snakes. 
Harmful  rodents,  such  as  field-mice  and  rats,  all 
of  which  will  break  into  a  succulent  egg  with 
pleasure,  are  mainly  kept  within  bounds  by  the 
birds. 

Being  thus  able  to  hold  their  own,  birds  play  no 
mean  part  in  the  economic  relations  of  mankind 
by  limiting  the  rodent  pests  which  destroy  crops ; 
but  this  is  of  comparatively  small  moment  in  the 
I)ro^dei'  field  of  Nature.    Birds  have  a  greater 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  11 

mission :  like  the  weasel  and  the  fox  in  their  own 
world,  they  are  the  spoilers  of  the  insect  world. 

3 

Destruction  of  Insects 

Insects  are  fair  game.  Finches  and  game-birds 
subsist  mainly  on  seeds — weeds,  acorns,  or  grain, 
as  the  case  may  be;  robins  and  catbirds  enjoy  a 
juicy  cherry  or  a  luscious  strawberry;  parrots 
and  toucans  consume  tropical  fruit  in  enormous 
quantities ;  but  all  of  them  will  swallow  an  insect 
with  avidity,  be  they  song  sparrow,  partridge, 
robin,  or  toucan.  A  beetle  to  a  bird  is  like  a  drop 
of  nectar  to  a  honey-bee,  to  be  consumed  immedi- 
ately without  the  loss  of  a  second.  Certain  spe- 
cies survive  wholly  upon  insects;  insects  are  es- 
sential to  the  diet  of  most  others,  particularly  in 
the  nesting  season  when  the  young  are  to  be  fed. 
Night-hawks,  swifts,  and  swallows  live  virtually 
on  them  alone.  Grasshoppers  furnish  much  of 
the  daily  fare  of  turkeys.  The  American  spar- 
row-hawk prefers  a  grasshopper  above  anything 
else  as  food.  A  wood-duck  will  swim  far  for  the 
larva  of  a  dragon-fly.  A  hununingbird  devours 
microscopic  insects  by  the  hundred  at  a  meal. 

The  importance  of  insect  destruction  cannot 

be  overestimated  when  we  stop  to  consider  the 

potential  possibilities  of  the  tiny  organisms.    Let 

^   it  be  understood  that  there  are  some  four  hun- 


12      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

dred  thousand  ^species  already  recognized,  and 
virtually  all  .are  capable  of  multiplying  at  an  ap- 
palling rate. 

With  this  great  potentiality  for  reproduction, 
then,  insects  cannot  be  allowed  to  go  unchecked; 
otherwise  within  a  short  time,  the  surface  of  the 
earth  would  be  a  wasted  desert.  Fortunately 
nature  has  provided  a  multitude  of  enemies, 
more,  indeed,  than  birds  ever  dreamed  of  having. 
Thus,  the  mycelium  of  certain  fungi  (the  thread- 
like body  of  the  plants)  thrives  on  the  bodies  of 
certain  insects;  diseases  blight  them;  frost  and 
flood  cut  short  their  lives;  animals,  like  the  ant- 
e.ater,  make  of  them  a  sole  source  of  food;  para- 
sites flourish  and  grow  fat  upon  them ;  they  wage 
continual  war  among  themselves;  and  birds  de- 
stroy them — ^parasites,  predaceous  forms,  and  all. 

But  while  this  form  of  destruction  is  perhaps 
the  greatest  mission  of  birds  in  nature,  it  also  is 
of  the  highest  economic  importance  to  agri- 
culture and  wiU  be  discussed  more  at  length  in 
the  next  chapter. 

4 

Effect  on  Vegetation 

The  next  great  avian  function  falls  under  two 
apparently  opposite  heads:  the  limiting  of  vege- 
tation and  the  spreading  of  vegetation. 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  13 

Limiting  of  vegetation  is  confined  to  the  de- 
struction of  fruit  and  seeds.  Birds  excel  in  this. 
Enormous  quantities  are  annually  done  away 
with.  Much  depends  upon  the  type  of  fruit, 
whether  its  mere  digestion  will  serve  to  kill  the 
enclosed  seed,  or  whether  the  seed  vnll  pass  un- 
scathed through  the  intestines  and  emerge  ready 
to  germinate.  If  the  fruit  happens  to  be  unripe 
the  seed  naturally  seldom  survives.  Although 
birds  each  year  consume  millions  of  tons,  they  do 
not  succeed  in  rendering  all  the  seeds  sterile.  A 
large  proportion,  especially  seeds  of  berries,  live 
to  germinate  after  they  have  been  evacuated.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  great  number  of  weed  seeds  are 
destroyed. 

It  has  been  determined  by  experiment  that  the 
vegetarians  among  birds  fall  into  three  natural 
groups.  The  first  is  made  up  of  those  species 
which  grind  and  break  up  the  hardest  fruits  and 
seeds  in  their  gizzards  by  the  aid  of  pebbles  and 
gritty  sand.  Among  these  are  the  gallinaceous 
fowl  (e.  g.,  turkeys,  grouse,  quail,  and  domestic 
fowl),  pigeons,  ducks,  titmice,  sparrows,  and 
most  finches.  The  smaller  birds  crush  the  seeds 
in  their  bills  before  swallowing. 

The  next  group  is  partly  composed  of  crows, 
ravens,  jackdaws,  and  jays.  Hard-coated  berry 
seeds  and  cherry-pits  pass  uninjured  through 
their  intestines  or  may  be  evicted  through  the 


14      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

mouth,  but  soft-skinned  seeds  are  utterly  de- 
stroyed. 

Thrushes  form  the  third  group.  These  do  not 
retain  the  seeds  for  long  after  swallowing  the 
fruit  containing  them.  As  quickly  as  the  pulp  is 
disposed  of,  the  seeds  are  rejected  through  the 
mouth  before  they  can  pass  from  the  crop  to  the 
gizzard.  The  small  seeds,  however,  travel 
through  the  intestines,  with  the  result  that  about 
80  per  cent,  are  afterward  capable  of  germination. 
Likewise  all  hard  seeds  which  pass  through 
members  of  the  second  group  germinate,  but 
none  from  the  first  group.  The  finches  in  the 
United  States  daily  destroy  sufficient  weed  seeds 
to  earn  for  them  the  eternal  gratitude  of  the 
country. 

But  in  the  same  way,  while  the  finches  are  de- 
stroying their  daily  millions,  more  millions  are 
Deing  scattered  broadcast  by  the  other  groups,  to 
take  the  place  of  plants  which  have  succumbed  to 
time  or  malnutrition.  This  brings  us  to  birds  in 
their  character  of  planters. 

Four-footed  animals,  the  nut-storing  squirrels 
and  berry-eating  bears  for  example,  play  an 
active  part  in  the  spread  of  plant  life,  but  birds 
by  all  odds  are  primary  factors.  Crows, 
jays,  and  woodpeckers  are  responsible  for  far 
more  dispersal  of  seeds  than  they  are  commonly 
given  credit  for.  They  store  great  heaps  of 
nuts  like  squirrels ;  they  hide  them  singly  in  crev- 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  15 

ices  of  the  bark,  or  collectively  under  logs;  or 
they  drop  them  miles  from  the  parent  tree.  The 
nuts  sprout,  take  root,  and  perhaps  mature  in  a 
spot  where  wooded  plants  never  grew  before. 

It  is  not  rare  to  notice  an  old  disused  field,  for- 
saken by  the  farmer  because  of  its  barrenness, 
covered  with  a  scattering  of  young  oaks,  hick- 
ories, sycamores,  and  the  like.  Each  year  adds 
to  its  new  flora.  Field-mice  and  other  small 
rodents  are  responsible  for  some  of  this,  and  the 
wind  has  played  its  part ;  but  birds  have  been  the 
chief  conductors.  To  them  are  due  the  black- 
berries, the  strawberries,  and  the  trailing  dew- 
berries. The  wind  brought  the  sycamores,  the 
willows,  and  the  maples,  but  the  acorns  of  the 
oaks  were  transported  by  the  birds. 

Although,  as  has  been  stated,  a  certain  number 
of  seeds  are  expelled  from  the  mouth,  the  gener- 
ality pass  through  the  intestines  before  evac- 
uation. Seeds  may  thus  be  distributed  abroad 
as  the  bird  flies,  or  when  it  perches.  The  pres- 
ence of  a  large  number  of  hedge-rows  is  due  to 
the  latter  event.  The  American  farmer  does  not 
make  a  common  practice  of  planting  hedges  be- 
tween fields.  He  is  constrained  to  erect  a 
fence,  post  and  rail,  stone,  or  wire,  as  he  sees 
fit  or  the  resources  of  the  locality  allow.  His 
live  stock  have  to  be  kept  within  bounds ;  a  hedge 
is  ineffective  for  this  purpose. 

Unless,  however,  the  farmer  m^aintains  a  con- 


16      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

tinual  guard  with  brier  hook  and  scythe,  a  hedge 
invariably  does  spring  into  being  along  the  fence 
line.  Almost  before  he  reaUzes  it,  there  will 
arise  a  well  defined  row  of  junipers,  choke- 
cherries,  sassafras,  a  conglomeration  of  a  dozen 
species  perhaps,  and  banked  by  dense  growth  of 
blackberries,  wild  raspberries,  or  sumacs.  As 
none  of  these  spring  from  wind-blown  seeds, 
birds  must  be  the  carrying  agents,  or,  if  it  be  a 
stone  fence^  chipmunks,  perhaps,  and  birds. 

Again,  certain  plants  owe  their  very  existence 
to  the  agency  of  birds.  To  the  fruit-pigeons  is 
attributed  the  spread  of  wild  nutmegs  over  New 
Guinea  and  the  surrounding  islands.  The  pig- 
eons swallow  the  fruit  for  the  sake  of  the  red 
^*mace"  which  covers  the  seed,  and  later  throw 
out  the  hard  pellet  through  the  mouth  as  robins 
do  cherry-pits,  or  expel  it  with  their  feces. 

A  more  striking  example  of  entire  dependence 
is  the  case  of  the  mistletoe.  Living  only  as  a 
parasite  on  trees,  the  seed  must  be  deposited  in 
a  crevice  of  bark  before  the  plant  can  develop. 
The  white  viscous  berries  are  eaten  only  by  birds, 
who  later  evacuate  the  seeds  freed  of  pulp.  If 
this  occurs  while  the  bird  is  perched  in  a  tree,  the 
excrement  runs  down  over  the  branch  and  the 
seeds  find  a  lodgment  for  later  germination. 

Further  distribution  of  plant  life  may  occur 
from  the  mud  which  sometimes  adheres  to  the  feet. 
Such   an    eventuality   is    particularly   prevalent 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  17 

among  species  like  the  woodcock  and  marsh  birds 
which  live  in  muddy  areas.  Darwin  was  able  to 
rear  eighty-two  plants  from  a  single  ball  of  earth 
adhering  to  the  foot  of  a  partridge.  The  rough- 
ened shank  of  the  large  tinamou  of  South  America 
carries  an  appreciable  amount  of  earthy  material 
lodged  in  the  crevices  of  its  rear  scales.  This 
forest  mold  ordinarily  contains  seeds. 

Birds  are  beneficial  to  vegetation  in  other  ways. 
The  hummingbird,  for  instance,  aids  in  the  cross- 
pollination  of  blossoms  by  carrying  pollen  in  its 
feathers  from  one  flower  to  another.  This  holds 
true  for  other  species,  but  as  the  work  would  be 
carried  on  by  insects  if  birds  were  not  present 
their  efforts  cannot  be  assumed  to  play  an  essen- 
tial part  in  cross-pollination.  On  the  other  hand, 
ripened  seeds  like  beggar  ^s-lice  and  cockles  are 
specially  constructed  to  adhere  to  feathers  and 
fur,  and  may  be  carried  a  long  distance  before 
their  hosts  can  free  themselves. 

Once  more,  considerable  dispersal  of  vege- 
tation is  due  to  birds  of  prey.  The  osprey  when 
it  plunges  after  carp  or  perch  often  clutches  a 
talonful  of  water-weeds  as  well  as  its  intended 
quarry.  These  are  sometimes  transported  to  a 
tree  that  overhangs  another  body  of  water. 
There,  while  the  osprey  consumes  its  catch,  the 
weeds  drop  down  into  the  new  water.  At  the 
same  time  the  contents  of  the  fish's  stomach  drip 
into  the  lake,  carrying  great  numbers  of  minute 


18      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

aquatic  plants  and  often  seeds.  Similarily, 
when  a  Cooper's  hawk  devours  a  granivorous 
bird,  the  material  in  the  crop  of  the  victim  is 
scattered  upon  the  ground,  or  is  expelled  later  in 
the  feces  of  its  slayer. 


Destruction  of  Vertebrates 

Having  touched  slightly  upon  insects  and  dis- 
cussed the  subject  of  limitation  of  vegetation,  we 
now  arrive  at  the  third  mission  in  which  birds 
hold  a  trump  card.  This  is  the  suppression  of 
vertebrates. 

Although  the  destruction  of  rodents  properly 
falls  in  the  field  of  economics  and  will  be  dis- 
cussed at  greater  length  in  the  next  chapter,  birds 
have  an  effect  on  other  vertebrates  which  war- 
rants a  place  here.  Large  hawks,  eagles,  and 
owls  exert  considerable  influence  over  the  home 
life  of  many  medium-sized  animals.  The  hawk- 
eagles  of  South  America  subsist  almost  wholly 
upon  monkeys  and  other  mammals  that  inhabit 
the  roof  of  the  jungle.  In  other  parts  of  the 
world  eagles  capture  fawn,  young  antelope, 
sheep,  goats,  and  even  young  wild  pigs.  Nor  are 
reptiles  exempt.  The  secretary-bird  of  South 
Africa  is  closely  protected  by  law  because  of  its 
fondness  for  poisonous  snakes.    In  our  country, 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  19 

besides  several  hawks  that  prey  upon  snakes  and 
lizards,  the  turkey-vulture  exhibits  a  fondness 
for  the  eggs  of  alligators,  a  habit  which  serves 
in  some  measure  to  hold  those  reptiles  within 
proper  bounds. 

Sea-birds  are  harbingers  of  destruction  to  the 
fish  group.  Most  of  them  live  entirely  upon 
fish.  Gulls,  albatrosses,  and  fliers  of  that  type 
annually  devour  millions  of  tons.  Other  than 
these,  there  exist  numerous  colonies  of  fish-eat- 
ing cormorants,  boobies,  and  pelicans,  to  say 
nothing  of  penguins,  auks,  and  sea-ducks.  A 
single  colony  sometimes  consists  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  individuals,  even  of  millions.  So 
plentiful  are  the  cormorants  and  other  water- 
fowl of  the  St.  Lawrence  Gulf  that  they  darken 
the  face  of  clitf s  already  whitened  with  their  ex- 
creta. And  the  St.  Lawrence  is  only  one  of 
many  similarily  infested  regions  of  the  earth. 

Parts  of  the  antarctic  continent  form  another 
area  with  its  millions,  as  do  the  coasts  of  Alaska, 
Labrador,  and  Peru,  and  every  one  of  the  aquatic 
birds  that  live  there  is  a  fish-eater.  Allowing  one 
pound  of  fish  a  day  to  a  cormorant, — a  low  esti- 
mate,— we  can  reckon  that  a  small  colony  of 
100,000  birds  will  consume  fifty  tons,  or  virtually 
two  full  carloads,  every  twenty-four  hours.  With 
the  million  upon  million  individuals  of  this  single 
family  in  existence,  and  other  millions  of  their 


20      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

kindred  with  even  more  voracious  appetites,  it 
is  evident  that  their  combined  daily  toll  is  enor- 
mous. 

When  compared  to  that  of  aquatic  birds,  the 
damage  done  to  the  fish  tribe  by  such  species  as 
the  osprey  and  the  kingfisher  is  slight.  It  is  ap- 
preciable, however,  when  we  remember  that  they 
confine  their  operations  to  small  bodies  of  water 
which  of  necessity  must  have  a  limited  aquatic 
population.  Thus,  kingfishers  carry  havoc  among 
the  minnows  and  small  fry  of  lesser  waterways 
and  ponds,  and  therefore  no  longer  receive  pro- 
tection from  the  law.  But,  despite  their  depre- 
dations, their  part  in  the  great  balance  is  as 
much  to  spread  life  as  to  curtail  it.  Barren  pools 
are  stocked  with  fish  by  kingfishers.  Although  a 
fish  normally  will  seldom  escape  an  osprey  when 
once  gripped  in  its  talons,  under  sudden  stress 
the  hawk  will  drop  it ;  if,  for  instance,  he  is  beset 
by  a  swarm  of  crows  or  martins,  he  may  be 
forced  to  drop  his  load  in  order  by  flight  to  save 
himself  from  persecution.  Many  isolated  ponds 
and  lakes  have  been  stocked  by  the  agency  of 
these  birds. 

6 

Minor  Relations 

Although  disease  sometimes  sweeps  through 
a  colony  of  birds,  exterminating  it  to  the  last 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  21 

member,  it  is  doubtful  if  they  can  communicate 
the  disease  to  another  species.  Evidence  on  this 
score  is  meager  and  wholly  unconvincing.  It  is 
possible,  however,  for  them  to  carry  the  germs 
of  a  disease,  with  which  they  are  not  themselves 
impregnated,  from  one  animal  to  another.  The 
most  outstanding  case  of  this  kind  is  that  of  the 
turkey-vulture  and  the  pig.  The  vulture  is  a 
scavenger,  pure  and  simple,  and  feeds  wherever 
it  can  find  carrion.  To  one  of  these  birds  a  pig 
which  has  recently  succumbed  to  cholera  is  as 
succulent  a  morsel  as  one  which  has  died  of  old 
age.  The  vulture  can  see  no  difference.  Con- 
sequently, upon  leaving  the  skeleton,  it  carries 
off  upon  its  body  and  feathers  a  multitude  of 
deadly  germs. 

The  result  is  easy  to  follow.  Upon  alighting  in 
a  piggery,  perhaps  miles  distant  from  its  recent 
activities,  the  vulture  unwittingly  scatters  the 
germs  broadcast,  either  through  excretion  or 
by  coming  into  contact  with  an  object  to  which 
they  will  adhere.  If  pigs  are  present  they  will  be- 
come inoculated.  The  remedy  of  course  lies 
with  the  farmer ;  he  should  bury  his  dead  stock. 

It  has  more  than  once  been  claimed  that  birds 
are  partly  responsible  for  the  spread  of  the 
chestnut  blight  which  of  recent  years  has  devas- 
tated the  chestnut  forests  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  not  at  all  improbable.  The  blight  i&  a 
fungus  disease  which  works  on  the  inner,  or  cam- 


22      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIBD  LIFE 

bium,  layer  of  bark.  The  spores  are  e'xceed- 
ingly  minute  and  may  be  wafted  long  distances 
by  the  A\dnd.  Great  numbers  may  also  be  trans- 
ported from  grove  to  grove  and  forest  to  forest 
hidden  in  the  feathers  of  birds,  just  as  the  hum- 
ming-bird carries  pollen. 

Among  other  minor  relationships  which  may 
Have  a  bearing  on  the  general  balance  is  the  con- 
tinual association  of  some  species  with  large 
four-footed  beasts.  For  example,  we  have  in 
America  the  cowbird  which  has  contracted  a 
habit  of  following  a  herd  of  cattle  about  a  pas- 
ture to  feed  upon  the  flies  attracted  by  the 
animals.  The  cowbird,  however,  seldom  or  never 
alights  upon  the  cattle  themselves  as  does  that 
strange  black  cuckoo  of  South  America,  the  ani, 
and  the  starling-like  rhinoceros-bird  of  Africa. 

These  have  an  especial  fondness  for  ticks  and 
other  body  parasites  which  abound  on  all  beasts 
free  from  the  curry-comb,  and  they  take  a  small 
but  valuable  part  in  the  life  history  of  the 
animals  they  attend.  Unfortunately,  the  rhinoc- 
eros-bird, with  the  coming  of  domestic  cattle  in- 
to South  Africa,  has  fallen  into  disgrace.  In 
tearing  a  tick  from  its  hold  on  the  back  of  its 
host,  the  bird  generally  causes  a  small  wound  in 
the  tender  hide,  which  soon  grows  infected.  The 
rhinoceros-bird  of  late  years  has  also  become  en- 
dowed with  a  taste  for  blood,  and  now  inflicts 
wounds  where  there  are  no  ticks  at  all. 


THEIR  PLACE  IN  NATURE  23 


Summary 

To  summarize  briefly:  The  greatest  function 
of  birds  in  nature  is  the  utilization  of  their  vast 
numbers  to  aid  in  the  maintenance  of  the  great 
Balance.  Their  chief  mission  is  to  check  the 
spread  of  insects.  They  help  to  hold  within 
bounds  the  spread  of  vegetation  and  at  the  same 
time  oversee  the  establishment  of  plant  life  in 
localities  where  it  has  been  uprooted  or  is  absent. 
Through  their  efforts  the  enormous  shoals  of  fish 
are  limited,  and  barren  pools  are  stocked. 
They  reduce  the  number  of  crop-destroying 
rodents.  They  act  as  food  for  the  support  and 
growi:h  of  other  animals. 

In  other  words,  birds  are  efficient  policemen, 
successful  executioners,  careful  husbandmen, 
and  faithful  martyrs  to  their  cause.  They  are 
efficacious  guards  of  the  Balance  of  Nature;  and 
their  work  is  well  done. 


CHAPTER  II 


THEIR  RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE 

1.   General.     2.    Harmful  Insects.     3.   Destruction   of  Insects  by 

birds.     4.  Consumption  of  Seeds.     5.  Effect  on  Rodents.  6. 

Destruction   of  Fruit  and  Grain.     7.    The  Kea  Parrot.  8. 
The  Cash  Value  of  Birds. 


General 

When  man  first  scratched  the  soil  with  a 
pointed  stick  and  deposited  in  the  furrow  thus 
formed  a  seed  of  wild  grain,  he  unwittingly  was 
embarked  upon  an  enterprise  contrary  to  the  set 
rules  of  Nature.  By  planting  and  cultivating 
crops  where  Nature  had  not  intended  them  to 
grow,  he  had  created  a  disorder  in  her  narrow 
pathways.  The  natural  conditions  of  law  and 
order  were  knocked  topsy-turvy.  No  time  was 
allowed  in  which  to  build  up  a  bulwark  of  protec- 
tion for  the  new  creations — grain,  fruit,  and  vege- 
tables contrived  from  artificial  selection;  it  all 
happened  too  suddenly.  Insects,  weeds,  beasts, 
fungi,  and  mildew  diseases,  finding  a  fresh  outlet 
for  expansion,  seized  these  unnatural  plants  to 

24 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        25 

breed  upon  and  grow  strong.  The  great  Balance 
of  Nature  was  upset. 

Only  one  course  remained  for  Nature  to  pursue 
at  this  crisis.  Her  policemen,  the  birds,  were 
hurried  to  the  rescue.  They  alone  formed  a 
living  barrier  through  which  the  unruly  ones 
would  find  it  difficult  to  drive. 

Unfortunately  it  took  men  several  thousand 
years  to  learn  that  birds  were  their  friends  and 
helpers.  During  all  that  period  birds  were  con- 
sidered detrimental  in  every  way  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  husbandry.  Birds  stole  grain,  they 
robbed  the  poultry  yard,  they  consumed  fruit, 
and  they  destroyed  the  shoots  of  young  plants; 
they  were  bad  through  and  through.  Of  so  much 
man  assured  himself  as  an  eye-witness,  and  he 
did  not  think  to  look  further. 

At  last  came  a  day  when  the  study  of  natural 
history  was  accorded  a  place  among  the  sciences. 
People  began  to  specialize  in  ornithology.  To 
their  amazement,  they  discovered  that  all  birds 
were  not  so  black  as  they  had  been  painted.  In- 
deed, from  the  analysis  of  the  stomach  contents 
of  thousands  of  individuals,  it  was  found  that 
scarcely  any  of  them  were  bad.  Men  learned 
that  for  every  fowl  the  so-called  hen-hawks  cap- 
tured, most  of  them  devoured  a  hundred  or  more 
rats  and  field-mice.  It  came  to  be  understood  that 
the  destruction  caused  by  'those  rodents  far  ex- 
ceeded the  money  value  of  a  few  fowls.     The  bal- 


26      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ance  stood  well  in  favor  of  the  hawks.  Again,  it 
developed  that  many  of  the  supposedly  most 
voracious  grain-eating  birds  were  in  reality  de- 
stroyers of  the  insects  so  detrimental  to  the  rear- 
ing of  crops.  It  was  proved  that  other  birds 
accounted  for  thousands  of  tons  of  weed  seeds 
which  otherwise  would  choke  the  truck  gardens. 
Finally,  by  compilation  of  statistics,  it  was  shown 
that  they  are  responsible  for  the  saving  each  year 
of  billions  of  dollars  to  the  world  of  agriculture. 
The  husbandman  does  well,  then,  to  hesitate 
before  consigning  all  the  birds  on  his  farm  to  per- 
dition. He  now  realizes  their  true  worth  and 
knows  that  their  beneficial  functions  far  outweigh 
their  evil  ones.  In  the  eyes  of  the  modem  farmer, 
their  minor  depredations  assume  a  negli- 
gible position  wholly  discounted  in  the  cause  of 
the  greater  good.  So  firmly  established  are  their 
useful  characteristics  in  his  mind  that  agricul- 
tural schools  all  over  the  world  are  now  laying 
particular  stress  on  the  study  of  economic  orni- 
thology. He  denominates  these  characteristics 
under  three  chief  heads:  the  destruction  of  in- 
sects, of  weeds,  and  of  rodents. 

2 
Harmful  Insects 

Insects  are  responsible  for  more  damage  to 
farm  crops  than  any  other  known  organisms  of 


EELATION  TO  AGEICULTURE        27 

the  animal  kingdom.  To  them  is  due  a  consider- 
able amount  of  disease  among  domesticated  ani- 
mals. Their  rate  of  reproduction  is  appalling. 
Their  numbers  amount  to  a  figure  too  enormous 
for  the  human  mind  to  grasp.  Their  appetite 
is  tremendous;  in  proportion  to  his  size  a  man 
to  keep  on  an  even  basis  with  some  of  them  would 
have  to  consume  tons  of  food  at  a  meal.  The 
flesh-eating  larvae  of  some  flies  will  devour  a  hun- 
dred times  their  o^vn  weight  of  meat  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  a  caterpillar  in  a  day  will  con- 
sume a  leaf  weighing  ten  times  itself.  There- 
fore, insects,  unhampered  and  unhindered,  are  a 
serious  menace  to  agriculture  in  all  its  forms. 

Fortunately,  as  outlined  in  the  previous  chap- 
ter, the  insects  are  circumscribed  on  all  sides  by 
limiting  factors  which  serve  to  maintain  their 
population  within  moderate  bounds.  The  world 
is  at  odds  with  them  in  order  to  keep  the  Balance, 
which  the  coming  of  cultivation  so  nearly  upset. 

As  the  agricultural  expert  has  learned  to  know 
insects,  he  separates  them  into  three  groups, 
vegetable-eaters,  predaceous  forms,  and  species 
parasitical  to  his  live  stock.  The  last  group  are 
controlled  by  washing  and  spraying  the  domes- 
ticated animals,  but  the  others  survive  artificial 
methods  of  getting  rid  of  them  by  poison. 

The  vegetable-eaters,  as  their  name  implies, 
include  all  the  species  whose  food  consists  of  veg- 
etable   matter.     These    are    responsible    among 


28      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

other  things  for  the  destruction  of  grain,  forage 
crops,  foliage,  fruit,  and  the  produce  of  the  truck 
garden.  They  constitute  by  far  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  class  of  insects,  and  are  the  chief  pests 
upon  which  the  farmer  vents  his  ire.  They 
include  the  caterpillars,  locusts  (grasshoppers), 
crickets,  army-worms,  rose-beetles,  cicadas  (com- 
monly called  locusts),  cotton  boll-weevils,  other 
weevils,  stink-bugs,  plant -lice,  and  a  myriad  more. 
These  are  utterly  harmful  to  agriculture. 

Maintaining  a  continual  warfare  upon  the  veg- 
etable-eaters are  the  second  group,  the  predatory 
species  of  the  insect  world.  Although  preda- 
ceous  in  fact,  all  do  not  live  directly  by  capturing 
their  enemies.  Many,  however,  may  be  likened 
to  carnivorous  animals.  In  their  small  way  the 
ground-beetles,  robber-flies,  certain  bees,  nu- 
merous spiders,  mantis  insects,  and  the  like  are 
utterly  as  savage  as  the  lions  and  tigers  of  the 
mammal  world.  They  stalk  their  prey,  spring 
upon  it,  and  rend  it  to  pieces  as  ferociously  as 
any  wolf  or  grizzly  bear. 

Far  more  efficacious  in  their  methods  of 
destruction  are  the  parasitical  insects.  They  are 
gifted  with  the  means  of  depositing  eggs  beneath 
the  tough  skins  of  their  victims.  When  the  eggs 
hatch,  the  larvae  feed  upon  the  flesh  of  their  un- 
fortunate host  until  the  latter  is  so  weakened 
that  it  dies.  Their  work  is  more  subtle  than  the 
impetuous  assaults  of  their  more  savage  breth- 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        29 

Ten,  and  it  sometimes  leads  to  the  total  subjection 
of  an  economically  harmful  species  of  vegetable- 
eaters. 

An  excellent  example  of  this  means  of  limita- 
tion is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  common 
cabbage-butterfly.  The  crafty  executioner  is  a 
tiny,  almost  microscopic,  ichneumon-fly  which, 
for  lack  of  a  common  English  name,  must  be 
known  by  its  generic  title,  Microga^ter,  This 
insect  hovers  about  in  the  air  until  it  perceives 
a  cabbage-caterpillar  at  work  upon  a  leaf.  Down 
it  swoops,  and  the  long  ovipositor  enters  the  body 
of  the  unsuspecting  victim.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  eggs  are  ejected  from  the  ovipositor  into 
the  body  of  the  caterpillar,  and  the  little  ichneu- 
mon-fly departs,  satisfied  that  its  chief  mission  in 
life  has  been  accomplished. 

Before  long  the  eggs  hatch  and  the  larvae  of 
Microgaster,  minute  grub-like  organisms,  begin 
to  feast  on  the  fatty  layer  beneath  the  skin. 
Undismayed,  the  caterpillar  continues  to  demolish 
the  cabbage,  wliile  the  larvae  grow.  The  day 
finally  arrives  for  the  caterpillar  to  pupate,  to 
form  its  chrysalis.  It  grows  sluggish  of  move- 
ment in  preparation  for  the  event  to  come. 

But,  unfortunately  for  their  host,  the  ichneumon 
larvae  feel  that  they,  too,  must  pupate.  The 
space  is  too  small  within  the  caterpillar  to  permit 
the  spinning  of  cocoons,  so  without  ado  they  eat 
their  way  through  the  skin  to  the  open  air,  leaving 


30      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

their  host  to  die.  Mother  Micro g aster  did  her 
duty  well.  Not  2  per  cent,  of  the  cabbage-cater- 
pillars escape  her  inoculation. 

One  might  think  from  the  above  that  the  par- 
asitical and  predaceous  forms  alone  could  cope 
with  the  injurious  insects,  that  the  additional 
drafting  of  birds  for  the  fray  is  unnecessary. 
Such  would  be  the  case  but  for  two  reasons.  In- 
sects multiply  at  an  enormous  rate,  and  the  preda- 
tory species  are  greatly  inferior  in  number  to 
the  crop-damaging  kinds.  Just  as  hawks  alone 
are  unable  to  check  the  spread  of  birds,  so  are 
insects  incapable  of  holding  their  kindred  within 
bounds. 

When  one  stops  to  consider  the  terrible  insect 
scourges  which  from  time  to  time  have  blighted 
large  areas  of  the  earth,  he  will  realize  that  Na- 
ture is  not  as  perfect  a  guardian  as  she  might  be. 
Many  of  her  laws  do  not  work  at  all  where  man's 
handiwork  is  concerned.  So  slow  is  she  at  evolv- 
ing new  creations  that  there  apparently  has  not 
been  sufficient  time  to  produce  a  formidable  antag- 
onist to  the  spread  of  locusts  and  army-worms. 
These  insects  possibly  were  active  cogs  in  the 
machinery  for  limiting  the  growth  of  vegetation 
before  the  coming  of  cultivation,  but  now  they  are 
wholly  detrimental  to  all  forms  of  agriculture. 

It  is  a  matter  of  historical  fact  that  locust 
plagues  invariably  are  accompanied  by  a  swarm 
of  birds.     Species  whose  natural  food  is  quite 


EELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        31 

different  from  grasshoppers  will  congregate  by 
the  hundred  and  gorge  themselves  until  scarcely 
capable  of  flight  when  those  insects  appear.  Her- 
ons forsake  their  marshes,  vultures  their  carrion, 
seed-eaters  their  seeds,  and  ducks  their  wild 
celery,  when  an  extraordinary  host  of  grasshop- 
pers is  sighted.  Such  an  event  has  happened  not 
once  but  a  score  of  times  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States;  it  is  common  in  Africa  and  other 
locust-infested  lands.  The  reports  of  the  State 
departments  of  agriculture  are  replete  with  such 
instances. 

About  fifty  years  ago  the  settlers  near  Great 
Salt  Lake  were  reduced  to  starvation  rations 
through  the  destruction  of  their  freshly  planted 
crops  by  swarms  of  grasshoppers.  Then  came 
the  gulls.  True  to  their  instinct,  they  gathered 
from  the  lake  in  thousands,  and  before  many  days 
had  passed  the  locusts  were  no  more ;  all  had  been 
devoured.  There  stands  to-day  in  Salt  Lake  City 
a  beautiful  monument  erected  in  honor  of  those 
gulls. 

The  destruction,  however,  of  suddenly  arising 
insect  swarms,  though  important,  is  not  the  chief 
function  of  birds  in  the  sphere  of  agricultural 
economy.  Their  mission  is  to  exert  a  steady  pres- 
sure on  insects  as  a  whole,  to  act  as  ^^moppers 
up"  for  the  predaceous  species,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  keep  the  latter  from  spreading  beyond 
control. 


32      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 


Destruction  of  Insects  by  Birds 

In  the  instinctive  efforts  of  birds  to  maintain 
the  balance  of  agriculture,  they  devour  many  use- 
ful species  of  insects.  Their  instinct  is  to  fill 
their  crops  with  food.  A  robin  cannot  be  expected 
to  distinguish  between  economically  desirable 
beetles  and  bad  ones.  A  *^good''  robber-fly  and 
a  *^bad''  house-fly  probably  taste  much  alike  to 
a  kingbird.  A  night-hawk  would  rather  swallow 
a  tiny  Micro g aster  than  a  June-bug.  They  con- 
sume all  species,  beneficial  and  harmful  alike. 

An  examination,  however,  of  numerous  bird 
stomachs  has  shown  that  the  larger  proportion 
of  insects  taken  is  made  up  of  vegetable-eaters. 
This  is  not  surprising  when  we  stop  to  consider 
that  the  vegetable-eaters  far  outnumber  the  other 
forms  in  nature.  Both  are  destroyed  in  propor- 
tion to  their  numbers. 

It  so  happens  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
cabbage-caterpillar,  the  vegetable-eater  is  not 
destroyed  by  parasites  until  great  damage  to 
crops  has  been  accomplished.  The  second  gen- 
eration, it  is  true,  is  reduced  in  numbers,  but  not 
before  the  first  generation  has  inflicted  serious 
loss  upon  the  farmer.  Birds,  therefore,  by 
consuming  the  caterpillar,  though  ^dth  it  a  num- 
ber of  parasitical  larvae  may  be  destroyed,  are 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        33 

saving  the   farmer  from   a  direct  money  loss. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  agriculturalist  is  more 
indebted  to  birds  for  the  preservation  of  his 
growing  crops  than  to  any  other  living  creatures. 
In  the  predatory  insects  he  finds  true  helpmajtes 
who  destroy  much  of  the  smaller  fry;  but  the 
rapacious  caterpillars,  cicadas,  and  grasshoppers 
are  too  large  for  them  to  attack.  Parasites  deal 
with  these  forms,  but  their  action  is  slow  and 
affects  the  immediate  crop  little. 

Virtually  all  birds  will  gobble  a  large  insect 
upon  sight.  Entire  colonies  of  tent-caterpillars 
are  destroyed  before  they  can  denude  a  tree  of 
its  foliage.  Broods  of  ** seventeen-year  locusts*' 
(cicadas)  are  suppressed  by  English  sparrows, 
which  seem  to  have  a  strange  fondness  for  those 
queer  insects.  Chickadees,  kinglets,  and  nut- 
hatches rid  our  orchards  of  countless  myriads  of 
plant-lice  and  their  eggs.  One  chickadee  alone 
will  consume  5000  eggs  of  the  canker-worm  moth 
in  a  day.  A  single  covey  of  quail  can  clear  an 
acre  of  potato-vines  of  their  beetles. 

A  few  years  ago  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  set  aside  a  tract  of  land  in  Mary- 
land with  the  view  of  determining  the  exact  sta- 
tus of  birds  on  a  farm.  It  was  necessary,  in 
order  to  get  at  their  stomach  contents,  to  shoot 
a  great  number  of  individuals.  In  all,  645  birds 
were  killed  during  the  experiment.  The  results 
proved  interesting.    Virtually  all  the  birds,  at  one 


34      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

time  of  year  or  other,  included  insects  as  a  part 
of  their  menu.  Twenty-four  species  fed  on  grass- 
hoppers, twenty-one  took  leaf-mining  beetles, 
thirty-nine  consumed  ants,  and  forty-four  had 
eaten  weevils.  Most  birds  took  two,  three,  or  all 
the  forms  of  insects  mentioned.  About  one  third 
of  all  the  food  consumed  by  the  645  consisted  of 
insects,  27  per  cent,  of  which  were  harmful  to 
crops  and  less  than  4  per  cent,  beneficial.  These 
were  the  average  birds — robins,  catbirds,  swal- 
lows, woodpeckers,  kingbirds,  crows,  and  the  like 
— that  are  found  on  any  typical  farm  of  the  east- 
ern United  States. 

4 

Consumption  of  Seeds 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  enlarge  greatly  upon 
the  destruction  of  weeds  by  birds,  as  that  has 
been  discussed  in  the  previous  chapter.  To  give 
some  idea,  however,  of  the  capacity  of  individuals 
in  that  direction,  the  number  of  seeds  estimated 
to  be  eaten  by  a  single  bob-white  is  here  set 
down:  ^ 

Barn-yard  grass    i.  .i 2,500 

Beggar-ticks    » 1,400 

Black  mustard 2,500 

Burdock    > 600 

1  Mrs.  Margaret  Morse  Nice  in  "Journal  of  Economic  Ento- 
mology";   Vol.  Ill,  No.  3. 


EELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        35 

Crab-grass   2,000 

Curled  dock 4,175 

Dodder    1,560 

Evening  primrose   10,000 

Lamb's  quarter 15,000 

Milkweed    770 

Peppergrass 2,400 

Pigweed    12,000 

Plantain    12,500 

Rabbit-foot  clover 30,000 

Round-headed  bush  clover 1,800 

Smartweed  2,250 

White  vervain 18,750 

Water  smartweed 2,000 

In  addition  to  this  enormous  capacity  for  aeeds, 
the  bob-white  accounts  for  145  species  of  insects. 
It  is  calculated  that  quail  consume  1341  tons  of 
weed  seeds  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  be- 
tween September  1  and  April  30.  The  mourning 
dove  is  accredited  with  7000  seeds  daily.  The 
work  of  finches  is  highly  beneficial,  that  of  the 
winter  birds  being  particularly  so. 

On  the  Maryland  farm  above  mentioned  Dr. 
Judd  found  that  slightly  more  than  a  quarter  of 
the  birds  killed  ate  weed  seeds.  Seeds  formed 
about  one  fifth  of  all  the  food  consumed  by  birds 
on  the  farm,  and,  in  the  case  of  some  individuals, 
formed  from  50  to  70  per  cent,  of  their  food. 
The  number  destroyed  to  the  acre  in  twenty-four 


36      THE  IMPOETANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

hours  was  46,000,  or  slightly  more  than  one  seed 
to  the  square  foot.  Therefore,  the  grand  total 
of  weeds  eliminated  in  a  year  from  any  one  farm 
must  be  very  great. 


Effect  on  Rodents 

We  now  reach  the  third  province  of  birds  in  the 
cause  of  agriculture.  This  is  their  destruction 
of  injurious  rodents. 

It  is  not  commonly  realized  what  a  wide-spread 
menace  these  little  animals  are.  Collectively 
they  make  an  enormous  group,  comprised  of 
squirrels,  gophers,  lemmings,  wood-mice,  field- 
mice,  rats,  and  many  others.  Their  chief  food 
is  roots  or  green  crops,  and  they  are  ultra-prolific. 
All  people  are  familiar  with  the  procreant  multi- 
plication of  the  common  house-mouse,  and  field 
rodents  are  fully  as  productive. 

Their  prolificness  at  times  is  amazing.  During 
ordinary  seasons  they  merely  seem  to  hold  4:heir 
own  in  numbers  against  natural  enemies — birds, 
cats,  and  small  vermin.  Even  in  these  days  of 
** peace''  their  reproduction  is  great,  but  not 
sufficient  to  attract  their  enemies  in  greater  force. 
The  presence  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  field-mice  on 
an  acre  of  alfalfa  does  not  affect  4;he  crop,  and 
makes  merely  fair  hunting  for  vermin.    Pres- 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE         37 

ently,  however,  a  period  arrives  when  the  rodents 
seem  to  multiply  as  if  by  magic.  One  litter 
after  another  is  born,  and  within  a  few  weeks 
these  litters  produce  new  litters.  Perhaps  birds 
and  vermin  have  withdrawn  from  the  neighbor- 
hood, attracted  to  another  locality  by  an  abun- 
dance of  food,  and  the  rodents  are  free  to  breed 
unmolested.  Then,  without  warning,  they  sweep 
in  countless  hordes  broadcast  over  the  land. 

In  this  way  the  lemmings  appear  every  few 
years  in  Norway  and  Sweden.  They  sweep  in 
incalculable  thousands  slowly  across  the  country, 
devouring  all  vegetation  that  stands  in  their  path 
and  leaving  a  brown,  barren  stretch  behind.  They 
pause  for  nothing,  swim  broad  rivers  and  lakes, 
climb  mountains,  cross  prairies,  and  finally  plunge 
into  the  ocean.  At  their  first  appearance  hosts 
of  predatory  animals  gather.  Foxes,  wolves, 
small  vermin,  and  birds  of  every  description  as- 
semble on  the  trail  of  the  lemmings  and  fight  the 
retreating  horde  until  it  is  swallowed  by  the  sea. 
Even  cattle  and  horses  trample  the  rodent  army 
under  foot  when  it  attempts  to  cross  their  pasture. 
Nature  orders  all  her  living  forces  to  prey  upon 
the  insurgents. 

The  history  of  Great  Britain  is  filled  with  men- 
tionings  of  *^ plagues  of  mice"  which  from  time  to 
time  have  arisen  to  destroy  the  meadows  and  the 
root-crops.    And  her  history  also  is  replete  with 


38      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

references  to  the  descent  of  hawks  and  owls  upon 
the  ravaging  swarms  of  rodents  and  the  annihila- 
tion of  them. 

Similar  irruptions  have  taken  place  in  the  Uni- 
ted States.  In  Humboldt  Valley,  Nevada,  a  most 
notable  one  broke  out  in  1907  and  lasted  for  nearly 
a  year.  Hundreds  of  acres  of  alfalfa  were  ruined, 
and  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars'  damage  was 
done.  From  eight  to  twelve  thousand  field-mice 
an  acre  were  estimated  as  gnawing  at  the  roots. 
Although  at  that  time  large  numbers  of  hawks 
and  owls  were  being  shot  throughout  the  country 
and  the  population  of  the  various  species  had 
g  "eatly  diminished,  about  two  thousand  managed 
to  gather  in  the  infected  region.  They  consumed 
millions  of  mice.  Finally,  because  there  were  not 
enough  birds  to  do  the  work,  the  farmers  were 
compelled  to  fall  back  on  poisons  to  stamp  out  the 
pests. 

This  ** plague"  happened  only  fifteen  years 
ago,  but  even  at  that  late  date  the  farmers  of 
Humboldt  Valley  did  not  realize  what  the  birds 
of  prey  were  accomplishing  for  them.  Although 
each  bird  devoured  about  700  mice  a  month,  a 
number  of  hawks  were  shot  in  that  very  valley  that 
year. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington 
has  studied  for  more  than  half  a  century  our 
native  raptorial  birds  (hawks  and  owls)  to  deter- 
mine which  species  are  harmful  to  the  work  of 


EELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        39 

man  and  which  are  beneficial.  The  contents  of 
about  50,000  stomachs  taken  from  the  seventy- 
five  species  and  subspecies  which  occur  north  of 
the  Mexican  line  have  been  analyzed.  The  results 
show  that  out  of  the  seventy -five  only  six  forms 
— the  goshawk,  duck-hawk,  pigeon-hawk,  Cooper  ^s 
hawk,  sharp- shinned  hawk,  and  the  horned  owl — 
are  wholly  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  agricul- 
ture; beneficial  birds  form  the  greater  part  of 
their  diet. 

It  is  no  longer  the  fashion  to  call  the  red-tailed 
and  red-shouldered  hawks  poultry  thieves.  They 
are  now  recognized,  like  the  sparrow-hawk,  as 
birds  to  be  courted,  not  killed.  Poultry  make  up 
but  1  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  a  red-shouldered 
hawk  and  ten  for  the  red-tailed  species.  The 
screech-owl,  barn-awl,  and  long-  and  short-eared 
owls,  are  given  every  inducement  to  remain  in  the 
neighborhood  of  farms.  The  American  sparrow- 
hawk  devours  hundreds  of  insects  and  field-mice 
to  every  song-bird  it  takes.  For  each  bird  of  eco- 
nomic value  consumed,  the  owls,  with  the  sole  ex- 
ception of  the  great-homed  variety,  destroy  an 
average  of  400  small  rodents ;  two  or  three  are  de- 
voured at  a  meal.  Quite  different  are  these  rec- 
ords from  that  of  the  sharp-shinned  hawk,  which 
lives  on  a  diet  98  per  cent.  bird. 

With  a  multitude  of  similar  facts  before  us  it 
is  no  longer  possible  to  condemn  the  hawk  and  owl 
families.    All  laws  should  be  repealed  relating  to 


40      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

the  killing  of  these  birds,  except  the  incorrigible 
six,  and  any  other  individual  caught  red-handed  in 
the  act  of  stealing  poultry  or  game.  A  few  States 
have  already  put  some  birds  of  prey  upon  the  pro- 
tected list,  and  the  next  decade  probably  will  see 
the  entire  Union  falling  in  line.  The  bounty 
system  of  paying  for  the  killing  of  hawks  has 
virtually  every\vhere  been  discontinued.  The 
country  has  thus  been  saved  millions  of  dollars 
both  in  bounties  and  in  crops.  The  people  are  no 
longer  willing  to  pay  cash  for  what  really  amounts 
to  increased  destruction  of  their  own  farm  prod- 
ucts. They  have  learned  through  observation, 
research,  and  experience  that  a  reduction  in  the 
number  of  raptorial  birds  is  invariably  accompa- 
nied by  a  wave  of  noxious  rodents. 

6 

Destruction  of  Fruit  and  Grain 

Now  to  the  shady  side  of  birds  in  their  effect 
upon  agriculture.  Many  persons  have  awakened 
on  a  June  morning  to  find  their  pet  cherry-tree 
stripped  clean  of  its  fruit;  perhaps  they  have  not 
yet  even  tasted  a  cherry  of  the  year.  Some  have 
suffered  the  loss  of  a  fine  crop  of  strawberries; 
others  have  entered  the  garden  to  pick  raspberries 
and  found  to  their  chagrin  that  there  were  none. 
They  have  every  right  to  feel  injured,  robbed. 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        41 

There  can  be  no  doubt  concerning  the  identity  of 
the  thieves ;  our  own  eyes  have  seen  them  at  work. 
The  culprits  are  birds,  the  songsters  of  our  lawns 
— robins,  catbirds,  brown-thrashers,  and  others. 
They  are  the  robbers  and  should  be  made  to  suffer 
for  their  misdeeds. 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  indignant  possessor  of  a 
black  oxheart  cherry-tree  which  recently  has  been 
ravaged  by  robins  pauses  to  deliberate  upon  the 
general  economic  value  of  the  bird  he  is  about  to 
destroy.  The  shooting  of  the  thief  affords  him 
pleasure,  and  no  wonder :  during  the  cherry  season 
the  food  of  the  robin  is  44  per  cent,  cherry !  Even 
if  the  man  knew  that  at  other  times  of  the  year  the 
diet  of  the  bird  is  95  per  cent,  insectivorous,  the 
thought  would  not  deter  him  from  trying  to  save 
his  fruit. 

To  people  who  grow  cherries  and  strawberries 
on  a  large  scale  the  incursions  of  fruit-eating  birds 
entail  the  loss  of  considerable  sums  of  money. 
These  men,  under  specially  issued  permits,  are 
therefore  lawfully  allowed  to  protect  their  crops 
with  guns,  but  only  during  the  ripening  period  of 
the  fruit.  Some  growers  surround  their  orchards 
with  trees  bearing  fruit  of  a  poorer  grade,  but  of 
which  the  birds  are  extremely  fond,  and  thus  are 
able  to  save  their  pocket-books  without  resorting 
to  lethal  weapons.  Many  strawberry-producers 
philosophically  increase  their  acreage  of  berries  in 


42      TEE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

order  that  both  men  and  birds  may  have  sufficient. 
These  precautions  involve  both  time  and  money 
and  must  be  charged  up  against  the  birds. 

The  controversy  between  poultry-raisers  and 
birds  of  prey  has  already  been  dealt  with.  The 
honors  are  all  with  the  hawks.  Growers  of  grain, 
however,  have  a  better  case,  though  not  so  well 
proved  as  the  case  of  the  fruit  men.  There  can  be 
no  denying  that  birds  destroy  a  certain  amount  of 
grain. 

It  is  a  mistaken  idea,  though  a  widely  prevalent 
one,  that  grain-eating  birds  always  remain  grain- 
eaters,  that  the  main  food  of  crows,  blackbirds, 
and  doves  is  wheat  or  oats.  Nothing  could  be 
further  from  the  truth. 

Blackbirds,  however,  do  sometimes  eat  freshly 
planted  or  ripening  grain.  It  is  true  that  crows 
consume  thousands  of  bushels  of  unhusked  corn  in 
the  South  each  winter  when  it  has  been  left  in  the 
field  by  farmers  who  have  not  the  time  or  inclina- 
tion to  husk  it.  Bobolinks  as  rice-birds  annually 
destroy  about  two  million  dollars '  worth  of  cereals 
in  the  South.  And  grain  makes  up  about  85  per 
cent,  of  the  food  of  the  English  sparrow. 

But,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  of  the 
above  mentioned  species,  the  birds  have  other 
economic  functions  which  more  than  counterbal- 
ance their  depredations.  Only  thirty-eight  indi- 
viduals out  of  the  645  collected  on  the  famous 
Maryland  farm  had  taken  grain,  and  grain  made 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        43 

only  114  per  cent,  of  the  total  food  consumed. 
Let  us  therefore  examine  more  closely  into  the 
daily  life  of  some  of  these  so-called  noxious  crea- 
tures. 

Every  one  has  seen  blackbirds  descend  upon 
wheat-fields  in  flocks  of  thousands.  The  ques- 
tion is :  How  much  grain  do  they  destroy?  The 
natural  food  of  blackbirds,  as  has  been  proved  by 
investigation,  is  mainly  insects.  Naturally,  upon 
alighting  in  a  field  they  will  consume  all  they 
can  find  before  attacking  the  crop.  For  every 
bushel  of  wheat  they  consume,  the  farmer  can 
feel  assured  that  they  have  accounted  for  five 
bushels  of  insects.  If  left  alone  to  feed  and 
propagate,  those  insects  within  the  next  year 
would  have  destroyed  at  least  ten  bushels  of 
grain. 

Among  the  several  species  of  blackbirds,  some 
are  more  enamoured  with  grain  than  others. 
The  grackles  fall  in  this  latter  class,  whereas  the 
cowbird  and  red-winged  blackbirds  are  almost 
completely  insectivorous.  The  scientific  farmer 
is  now  versed  in  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  differ- 
ent forms  and,  as  a  rule,  confines  his  attention  to 
eradicating  the  grackles.  Even  with  the 
grackles,  however,  the  greater  part  of  their  food 
is  insect.  It  is  a  historical  fact  that  in  1749  in  the 
American  colonies,  after  a  wholesale  destruction 
of  crows  and  grackles  for  a  bounty  of  threepence 
a  dozen,  the  northernmost  colonies  had  a  season  of 


44      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

complete  loss  of  hay  and  grain.  Hay  had  to  be 
imported  from  England. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  heaviest  losses  from 
ravages  by  the  Rocky  Mountain  locusts  have  been 
coincident  with  or  following  directly  after  the 
destruction  of  thousands  of  red-winged  black- 
birds, grackles,  and  others.  About  thirty  thou- 
sand birds  were  slain  in  North  Dakota  in  one 
autumn  by  consuming  com  soaked  in  strychnine. 
It  is  estimated  that  these  blackbirds  would  have 
devoured  several  car-loads  of  insects  in  a  month 
— far  more  than  the  bulk  of  grain  they  could  pos- 
sibly have  destroyed. 

Bobolinks  belong  to  the  group  of  blackbirds. 
Although  responsible  for  an  appreciable  amount 
of  damage  in  the  winter-time  to  Southern  crops, 
their  warfare  against  the  insects  in  the  summer 
months  is  of  great  monetary  value  to  the  country 
as  a  whole.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  is 
thoroughly  cognizant  of  tliis  fact,  and  bobolinks 
have  been  placed  on  the  insectivorous  migratory 
bird  list  for  protection  by  Federal  law.  There  is 
a  proviso,  however,  which  permits  their  destruc- 
tion in  several  States,  if  discovered  attacking 
grain.  This  enables  the  Southern  farmer  to  pro- 
tect his  cereals ;  at  the  same  time  it  prevents  fur- 
ther sale  of  the  **  reed-birds '  ^  which  once  so 
cluttered  our  markets,  and  the  species  is  no  longer 
threatened  with  extinction. 

That  *' feathered  pirate,'*  the  crow,  is  not  so 


EELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE         45 

evil  as  lie  is  sometimes  said  to  be.  He  is,  however, 
an  admitted  devourer  of  corn  and  in  the  spring 
has  a  suspicious  fondness  for  sprouting  grain. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  crow  is  in  part  an  insec- 
tivorous bird,  and  the  values  of  insects  and 
grain  consumed  very  nearly  counterbalanced  each 
other.  But,  added  to  his  predilection  for  grain, 
he  is  a  thief,  a  destroyer  of  bird-nests,  and  an 
eater  of  eggs.  To  offset  these  crimes  he  is  a  scav- 
enger. It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  scales  of  justice 
weigh  unfavorably  against  him. 

In  days  gone  by  great  damage  was  inflicted 
upon  grain-fields  by  the  passenger  pigeon.  Both 
in  the  spring  and  at  harvest  time  great  flocks  of 
these  birds  would  descend  upon  the  fields.  So  in- 
calculable were  their  numbers  that,  though  each  in- 
dividual might  pick  up  only  a  few  grains,  the  total 
amount  consumed  was  enormous.  The  passen- 
ger pigeon  has  now  disappeared,  ruthlessly  ex- 
terminated, and  in  the  East  and  Middle  West  a 
sparse  scattering  of  mourning  doves  remains  in 
its  place.  What  grain  they  pick  up  is  waste 
material,  gleanings  from  the  harvest.  They  are 
weed-eaters,  not  destroyers  of  grain;  decidedly 
they  are  a  beneficial  species. 

The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  English 
sparrow.  It  is  a  bird  that  does  not  belong,  a 
stranger  within  our  territory,  an  inveterate  con- 
sumer of  small  grain.  Unlike  the  majority  of 
finches  and  sparrows  it  has  no  real  liking  for 


46      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

weed  seeds.  Although  it  has  a  particular  fond- 
ness for  cicadas  and  a  few  other  insects,  its  use- 
fulness to  mankind  stops  right  there.  It  prefers 
grain  to  all  other  foods,  but  will  take  juicy  fruit 
and  tender  young  buds  without  hesitation.  Ap- 
parently it  has  a  liking  for  most  crops  valuable 
to  men. 

Eight  pairs  were  introduced  into  this  country 
in  1850  from  England,  in  the  hope  that  they  would 
attack  certain  insects  injurious  to  cereal  crops* 
The  birds  did  not  thrive  well,  and  three  years  later 
a  second  batch  was  imported  and  liberated  in 
New  York  City.  This  second  shipment  did'  live 
and  multiply.  After  seventy  years  the  English 
sparrow  stands  second  only  to  the  robin  as  the 
most  numerous  bird  in  the  United  States ! 

While  the  destruction  of  plant  buds  by  the  Eng- 
lish sparrow  is  of  common  note,  there  are  a  few 
other  species  which  have  this  habit.  Several  of 
our  finches,  and  the  ruffed  grouse  in  particular, 
are  partial  to  this  kind  of  diet  in  winter.  From 
an  economic  point  of  view,  however,  the  damage 
done  is  small.  A  ruffed  grouse  requires  from  800 
to  1000  buds  a  day  w^hen  the  snow  is  on  the 
ground,  but  these  are  buds  of  forest  trees;  their 
loss  is  not  felt.  Noticeable  harm,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  caused  by  finches,  who  snap  otf  the  living 
buds  from  cultivated  shrubs  and  fruit.  The 
farmer  has  attended  to  the  pruning  of  his  stock, 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        47 

and  any  further  cutting  back  reacts  detrimentally 
to  the  plants.  Not  many  winter  finches  have  con- 
tracted this  habit,  and  those  that  have  more  than 
compensate  for  their  crimes  by  consumption  of 
weed  seeds. 


The  Kea  Parrot 

In  the  previous  chapter  we  mentioned  the  ac- 
quired habit  of  the  rhinoceros-bird  of  South 
Africa  of  picking  at  the  backs  of  cattle  until  blood 
flows.  The  birds  gained  the  habit  from  eating 
the  blood-filled  ticks  which  adhere  to  the  backs 
of  the  beasts.  In  somewhat  the  same  way  the 
kea  parrots  of  New  Zealand  have  evolved  a  taste 
for  the  flesh  of  sheep. 

Originally  these  parrots  were  entirely  insec- 
tivorous, with  perhaps  a  we.akness  for  succulent 
fruit.  Shortly  after  the  introduction  of  sheep 
into  New  Zealand,  they  formed  a  habit  of  ap- 
proaching the  sheep-stations  during  the  cold  win- 
ter months  in  order  to  pick  up  scraps  and  offal 
thrown  out  by  the  herders.  When  a  sheep  was 
killed  they  picked  the  flesh  from  the  bones  of 
whatever  portion  w^as  throAvn  away.  So  pleasant 
did  the  taste  of  flesh  become  that  gradually  the 
birds  forsook  their  natural  diet  of  fruit  and  be- 
gan to  attack  the  living  sheep.    It  is  now  their 


48      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

habit  to  alight  upon  the  backs  of  the  victims  and 
with  their  long  hooked  bills  to  burrow  through 
the  wool  down  to  the  warm  flesh. 

So  severe  has  been  the  damage  wrought  upon 
the  New  Zealand  sheep  herds  by  these  aberrant 
parrots  that  a  price  has  been  placed  upon  their 
heads;  and  they  rightfully  deserve  the  annihila- 
tion now  facing  them.  Fortunately,  the  species 
is  confined  solely  to  New  Zealand,  and  does  not 
enter  into  the  economic  relations  of  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

8 

The  Cash  Value  of  Birds 

It  is  diffi<3ult  to  arrive  at  any  close  estimation 
of  the  cash  value  of  birds  to  agriculture.  Many 
such  calculations  have  been  attempted*,  but  most 
of  them  leave  a  wide  margin  for  argument. 
Probably  the  most  equitable  comes  from  Mr. 
McAtee,  of  the  Biological  Survey  at  Washington. 
He  figures  that  each  bird  will  destroy  each  year 
insects  to  the  value  of  ten  cents.  With  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  four  billion  birds  breeding  in 
the  United  States,  their  annual  savings  to  agricul- 
ture would  then  amount  to  at  least  four  hundred 
million  dollars.  As  insects  annually  damage  ag- 
ricultural crops  in  the  United  States  to  the  tune 
of  more  than  one  billion  dollars,  it  can  be  seen  that 
Thirds  have  an  appreciable  cash  value. 


RELATION  TO  AGRICULTURE        49 

Added  to  this  is  the  value  rendered  in  the 
destruction  of  weeds  and  rodentsi.  The  daily 
consumption  of  weed  seeds  alone  amounts  to  thou- 
sands of  tons.  The  value  of  weeds,  however,  can 
only  be  measured  by  the  amount  of  labor  and 
time  it  takes  the  farmer  to  eradicate  them.  The 
cash  thus  saved  must  amount  to  a  large  total. 

Useful  birds  of  prey  average  about  two  noxious 
rodents  a  day  as  food.  If  a  field-mouse  is  ca- 
pable of  inflicting  only  one  cent's  worth  of  dam- 
age upon  farm  crops,  every  mouse-eating  bird 
will  consume  about  seven  dollars  *  worth  of  mice  a 
year.  Allowing  to  a  hawk  a  life  span  of  ten 
years,  then  each  such  bird  must  potentially  be 
worth  seventy  dollars  to  the  United  States. 

In  the  northeastern  States  there  are  at  a  low 
estimate  two  birds  residing  on  every  acre  of 
land.  We  shall  call  forty  acres  the  average  farm, 
thus  allowing  eighty  birds  to  each  farmer.  Every 
bird,  if  it  lives  for  ^ve  years,  is  worth,  according  to 
McAtee's  figures,  fifty  cents  as  a  destroyer 
of  insects.  As  a  consumer  of  weed  seeds  let  us 
suppose  it  is  valued  at  half  that.  This  will  give 
the  birds  an  average  value  of  seventy-five  cents 
apiece,  or  a  total  of  sixty  dollars  for  the  farm. 

On  every  two  farms  there  should  be  at  least 
one  beneficial  bird  of  prey,  a  hawk  or  an  owl, 
whose  value  alone  is  seventy  dollars,  or  thirty- 
five  dollars  to  one  farm.  Added  to  the  above, 
this  gives  us  a  total  of  ninety-five  dollars  for 


50      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

every  forty  acres.  In  other  words,  the  presence 
of  birds  enhances  the  value  of  land  for  the  ag- 
riculturist by  nearly  two  dollars  and  a  half  an 
acre! 


CHAPTER  III 

THEIE  EFFECT  UPON  HEALTH  AND  THE  WORKS  OF  MAN 

1.  The  Number  of  Birds.  2.  Their  Destruction  of  Insects  Obnox- 
ious to  Man.  3.  Their  Effect  upon  Dikes  and  Canals.  4. 
As  Scavengers. 


The  Number  of  Birds 

In  order  to  obtain  a  more  than  casual  under- 
standing of  the  etf  ect  in  bulk  of  birds  upon  human 
society,  the  Biological  Survey  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  instituted,  in  1914, 
a  bird  census.  As  it  was  obviously  impossible  to 
make  a  physical  count  of  every  feathered  individ- 
ual in  the  United  States,  the  department  selected 
a  number  of  average  tracts  of  land  upon  which  to 
make  a  study.  Included  w^ere  sections  of  farm 
land,  villages,  marshes,  forests,  and  mountains. 
A  definite  count  of  the  birds  residing  there  was 
to  be  made.  Volunteers  were  called  for  from  the 
various  rural  districts  and  a  great  many  reports 
solicited  from  measured  areas. 

The  result  of  this  first  census  was  the  ac- 
cumulation at  Washington  of  an  enormous  amount 

51 


52      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

of  statistics,  especially  from  the  northeastern 
States.  The  Survey  averaged  up  the  various 
figures  and  estimated  the  number  of  resident  birds 
to  the  acre.  In  the  following  year  the  experiment 
was  repeated,  and  it  soon  became  an  annual  event, 
care  being  taken  to  correlate  the  yearly  reports 
from  the  same  areas.  Soon  the  Biological  Survey 
was  satisfied  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  had  hit  upon 
the  proper  method  for  taking  a  census.  Each 
annual  report  virtually  coincided  with  that  of  the 
previous  year. 

The  reports  were  most  numerous  in  the  north- 
eastern States,  and  so  often  have  the  counts  there 
been  taken  that  there  can  be  no  hesitancy  in  vouch- 
ing for  their  correctness.  Each  farm,  then, 
in  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey  con- 
tains about  one  and  a  third  pairs  of  nesting 
birds  to  the  acre.  The  population  of  the  forests 
is  about  the  same.  Thus  in  New  York  State 
there  are  roughly  sixty  million  native  birds 
and  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  million  in  New 
England.  These,  it  must  be  understood,  are  only 
the  resident  population, — ^birds  that  nest  there, — 
while  several  times  that  number  pass  through 
during  the  year  on  their  migrations.  Accord- 
ing to  these  figures  there  are  several  billion 
birds  residing  in  the  United  States  without 
counting  those  which  visit  Canada  and  Green- 
land. 

The  most  numerous  of  all  birds  in  the  East  is 


EFFECT  UPON  HEALTH  OF  MAN      53 

the  robin.  Although  originally  a  forest  thrush, 
it  came  into  the  open  fields  after  the  early  set- 
tlers had  cleared  the  land,  and  it  found  there  a 
more  suitable  home  than  the  deep  forest.  Once 
established  in  the  clearings,  the  robin  increased 
in  such  numbers  that  it  now  holds  the  record 
for  all  land  birds.  Civilization  for  it  has  proved 
a  boon. 

Following  not  far  behind  the  robin  is  the 
alien  English  sparrow,  which  at  its  present  rate 
of  propagation  will  some  day  not  far  off  head  the 
list.  Then  in  the  order  named  come  the  catbird, 
brown  thrasher,  house  wren,  kingbird,  and  blue- 
bird. The  crow  stands  well  up  on  the  list,  but 
raptorial  birds,  long  victims  of  human  miscon- 
ception, are  down  near  the  end,  a  lowly  posi- 
tion into  which  gun  and  trap  have  forced 
them. 


Their  Destruction  of  Insects  Obnoxious  to  Man 

In  agriculture  the  economic  value  of  birds  is 
based  entirely  upon  the  requirements  of  their 
stomachs.  The  same  condition  holds  true  for 
the  birds  who  make  our  bams  and  roofs  their 
home.  One  seldom  pauses  to  deliberate  upon 
the  causes  which  led  the  nighthawks  and  the 
swallows  to  swoop  and  streak  an  erratic  course 
through  the  air  above  the  barn-yard  or  pasture. 


54      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

In  a  vague  way  we  realize  that  they  are  seeking 
insects,  but  our  imagination  ceases  to  work  fur- 
ther; the  actions  of  such  birds  are  too  common- 
place to  be  worth  a  second  thought.  And  yet  at 
that  moment  those  very  birds  may  be  con- 
suming mosquitos  at  the  rate  of  several  a  minute 
or  snapping  up  itinerant  house-flies  which  later 
would  have  made  our  kitchens  their  home.  Five 
hundred  mosquitos  have  been  taken  from  the 
stomach  of  a  nighthawk — merely  the  remnants  of 
one  meal.  Barn  swallows  are  inordinately  fond 
of  house-flies,  and,  together  with  the  swifts,  they 
destroy  thousands  of  winged  ants. 

One  of  the  most  important  economic  functions 
of  wood-ducks,  mallards,  and  others  is  their  habit 
of  destroying  enormous  numbers  of  mosquito 
larvae  which  infest  the  pools  where  they  feed. 
This  fact  was  learned  some  years  ago  and  brought 
into  public  prominence  by  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Dixon, 
coromissioner  of  public  health  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  estimated  that  if  the  birds  were  present  in 
their  numbers  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  they  would 
prove  of  vital  importance  in  checking  the  spread 
of  malaria.  Market  gunners,  however,  and  the 
general  indifference  of  the  public  to  a  promiscuous 
slaughter  of  our  game-birds  have  made  this  for- 
ever impossible.  Wood-ducks  at  present  are  not 
far  from  extinction,  and  mallards  and  green- 
winged  teal  are  in  a  fair  way  toward  suffering  the 
same  fate. 


EFFECT  UPON  HEALTH  OF  MAN   55 

Dr.  Dixon,  before  issuing  his  statement  con- 
cerning the  mosquito-destroying  capabilities  of 
ducks,  first  proved  his  theory  by  practical  experi- 
ment. Two  ponds,  each  about  1400  square  feet 
in  extent,  were  selected.  In  one  pond  he  placed 
goldfish;  the  other  was  reserved  for  ducks. 
Within  a  short  time  mosquito  larvas  swarmed  in 
the  fish-pond,  but  none  could  be  found  in  the  pool 
given  over  to  ducks.  Then,  to  demonstrate  the 
superiority  of  birds  over  fish,  ten  mallards  were 
placed  in  the  fish-pond,  and  within  forty-eight 
hours  the  larvae  had  been  eliminated. 

Dr.  Dixon  has  pro^^ded  a  practical  demonstra- 
tion of  what  ducks  are  capable  of  doing.  For 
those  of  our  readers  who  are  desirous  of  eliminat- 
ing mosquitos  from  small  bodies  of  water  which 
exist  on  their  land,  this  provides  a  feasible  method 
not  difficult  to  follow.  Wood-ducks  are  among 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  birds  and  easy  to  pro- 
cure from  licensed  wild  bird  breeders.  They  are 
ornamental  and  highly  efficient  mosquito  destroy- 
ers. Mallards  are  almost  as  bright  colored  as 
wood-ducks.  They  breed  well  in  captivity  and 
and  are  not  difficult  to  rear. 

3 

Their  Effect  upon  Dikes  and  Canals 

A  minor  though  highly  important  function  in 
some  localities  is  the  destruction  of  crawfish  by 


56      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

birds.  Herons  are  mainly  responsible,  crawfish 
forming  a  large  part  of  the  food  both  of  the  grown 
birds  and  of  their  young. 

Although  crawfish  destroy  a  large  number  of 
young  fish  and  attack  the  roots  of  corn  and 
cotton  plants,  for  which  ravages  alone  they 
should  be  condemned,  their  chief  guilt  lies  in  the 
destruction  of  levees  and  dikes.  These  little 
crustaceans  have  inflicted  incalculable  damage 
upon  the  levees  of  the  lower  Mississippi.  Many 
serious  floods  have  been  the  result  of  their  fond- 
ness for  burrowing  through  mud  to  the  source 
of  water.  A  dike  honeycombed  with  crawfish- 
tunnels  is  no  longer  safe.  Within  the  last  year 
thousands  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  New 
Jersey  upon  a  canal  whose  walls  have  been  under- 
mined by  the  persistent  creatures.  Other  thou- 
sands of  dollars  are  now  to  be  expended  in  ex- 
terminating the  crawfish. 

Owing  to  the  former  feather  trade,  herons  of 
almost  every  sort  have  suif ered  a  great  reduction 
of  numbers  in  the  United  States.  There  are 
living  to-day  only  a  tiny  fraction  of  1  per  cent, 
of  what  there  were  seventy  years  ago.  The  spe- 
cies which  mainly  inhabit  fresh  water  areas  are 
particularly  fond  of  crawfish,  and  in  former  days, 
in  addition  to  the  preservation  of  levees,  thus 
saved  to  the  Southern  planters  many  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  crops.  Since 
the  destruction  of  the  birds,  however,  immense 


EFFECT  UPON  HEALTH  OF  MAN   57 

damage  has  been  done  to  the  cotton-  and  corn-fields 
of  Alabama  and  Mississippi  by  the  crustaceans. 


As  Scavengers 

Perhaps  the  most  important  minor  relation  of 
birds  to  mankind  is  their  work  as  scavengers. 
Although  many  species  function  in  this  way,  the 
best  known  group  is  the  vultures. 

So  great  has  been  the  need  in  nature  of  a  street- 
cleaning  department  that  two  separate  kinds  of 
vultures  have  arisen.  The  vultures  of  the  New 
World  are  quite  different  in  anatomical  structure 
from  those  of  the  Old  World.  They  have  evolved 
along  parallel  lines ;  that  is  all.  The  external  ap- 
pearance is  virtually  the  same,  their  habits  are 
similar,  and  their  functions  are  identical,  but  the 
birds  are  not  closely  related.  They  come  from 
two  different  stems  of  the  hawk  family. 

In  most  tropical  cities  the  streets  are  ten- 
anted by  great  numbers  of  vultures  who  **  po- 
lice'' the  gutters  of  garbage  which,  if  left  to  lie 
there,  would  soon  pollute  the  entire  neighbor- 
hood. The  meat-markets  are  infested  by  them, 
and  they  greedily  swallow  all  discarded  scraps  of 
meat.  So  active  is  the  efficiency  of  the  **  turkey- 
buzzards''  in  our  own  Southern  States  that,  ex- 
cept in  the  cities  and  large  towns,  dead  animals 
are  seldom  buried.     The  bodies  are  dragged  to 


58      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

an  open"  field  and  the  bones  are  picked  free  of 
flesh  within  a  few  hours. 

Bnt  vultures  do  not  inhabit  all  regions;  they 
do  not  care  for  too  temperate  a  climate.  There 
crows  and  ravens  take  their  place.  As  scavengers 
these  are  almost  as  efficient,  but,  owing  to  their 
smaller  size  and  inconsiderable  digestive  capa- 
city, they  cannot  as  individuals  consume  as  much 
carrion.  Crows  were  at  their  best  on  the  battle- 
front  during  the  late  war.  In  America  they  prove 
of  immense  sanitary  value  by  devouring  the  dead 
fish  and  mussels  which  have  been  cast  upon  the 
beaches  by  the  waves.  The  grackles  also  aid 
materially  in  this. 

Gulls  as  scavengers  are  quite  as  accomplished 
as  crows.  They  are  the  guardians  of  our  har- 
bors. Drifting  offal  proves  more  alluring  to 
them  than  living  organisms.  Every  vessel  as  it 
puts  out  to  sea  is  followed  for  miles  by  hovering 
flocks  in  search  of  morsels  tossed  overboard. 
The  waters  of  New  York  Harbor  are  daily  swept 
by  their  wings  as  the  gulls  scan  the  surface  for 
floating  debris.  Hundreds  of  tons  of  foul  gar- 
bage is  thus  destroyed  which,  if  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  tides,  would  be  swept  ashore  to  pollute  the 
air  mth  noisome  odors  and  to  breed  disease.  All 
of  them — vultures,  crows,  and  gulls — ^make  the 
world  a  cleaner  place  to  live  in. 


CHAPTER  IV 


DOMESTIC  FOWL 


1.  The  Game-Cock.  2.  Early  Domestication.  3.  Breeds  of  Fowl 
4.  Poultry  Farming.  5.  Egg  Production.  6.  The  Turkey. 
7.  The  Domestic  Goose.  8.  The  Domestic  Duck.  9.  The 
Guinea-Fowl.     10.     What  is  coming? 


The  Game-Cock 

About  the  year  479  b.  c.  Themistocles  led  a 
Greek  army  in  a  crucial  battle  against  the  Per- 
sians. History  relates  that  just  as  the  opposing 
ranks  were  about  to  close  in  the  final  struggle 
Themistocles  cried  a  halt  to  his  phalanx  and  com- 
manded his  men  to  watch  a  cock-fight  then  taking 
place  on  a  small  plain  between  the  two  armies. 
The  struggle  between  the  two  birds  was  pro- 
longed. They  fought  gamely  and  to  the  finish. 
Then,  only  after  one  of  the  gallant  combatants 
lay  bleeding  on  the  ground,  with  its  conqueror, 
exhausted  but  pluckily  ready  for  a  renewal  of 
the  strife,  swaying  drunkenly  before  it,  did  the 
general  lead  his  phalanx  to  the  charge. 

Whether  the  anecdote  is  authentic  or  not,  it 
is  amusing  to  imagine  the  effect  of  a  similar  cock- 

59 


60      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

fight  on  a  modern  battle-field,  interfering,  for 
instance  with  the  struggle  for  Soissons,  Chateau- 
Thierry,  or  Vimy  Ridge.  Spurred  on,  however, 
by  the  brave  example  of  the  birds,  Themistocles 
and  his  men  fought  a  winning  fight  against  superi- 
or numbers.  The  entire  Persian  army  was  fin- 
ally routed  and  slain. 

The  Greeks  were  naturally  jubilant  over  the 
result  of  the  battle,  and  the  cocks  received  full 
credit  for  the  victory.  After  the  return  of  the 
army  to  Athens  the  soldiers  instituted  an  annual 
cock-fight  in  one  of  their  temples  to  commemorate 
the  victory,  which  was  regularly  attended  with 
proper  religious  fervor.  So  refreshing  did  the 
spectacle  of  these  fights  prove  that  within  a  few 
years  the  birds  began  to  be  matched  for  sport 
alone;  and  thus  the  cock-fight  became  an  estab- 
lished form  of  entertainment  in  Europe. 

Cock-fighting  in  England,  next  to  stag-hunt- 
ing and  falconry,  for  centuries  was  considered 
the  sport  of  sports.  Henry  VIII  set  his  seal  of 
approval  upon  it  by  erecting  a  large  wing — the 
Royal  Cockpit — to  his  palace,  and  henceforth 
cock-fighting  became  a  ^^  sport  of  kings. '^  It  con- 
tinued as  a  most  popular  form  of  entertainment 
for  several  hundred  years  until  the  advent  of 
horse-racing  placed  it  in  the  background.  A  law 
was  finally  passed  in  Great  Britain  in  1849  which 
for  humane  reasons  abolished  the  sport  and  pro- 
hibited the  holding  of  mains.    It  is  now  discoun- 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  61 

tenanced  virtually  everywhere  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe  with  the  exception  of  Spain.  It  meets 
with  disfavor  in  the  United  States,  but  all  Latin 
American  countries  hold  the  cock-fight  in  national 
approbation. 


Early  Domestidation 

Although  there  is  little  economic  value  in  the 
game-cock,  the  bird  is  unique  because  it  repre- 
sents in  a  domesticated  condition  the  closest  ap- 
proach we  have  to  the  red  jungle  fowl,  the  wild 
progenitor  of  the  common  fowl.  Four  distinct 
species  of  these  jungle-fowl  still  exists,  all  in- 
habiting the  Indo-Malayan  region  of  Asia  or  the 
adjacent  islands.  Three  of  them  do  not  thrive 
particularly  well  in  captivity,  but  the  fourth,  the 
so-called  red  species,  easily  breaks  away  from 
a  feral  state.  This  species  is  the  forefather  of 
all  our  domestic  fowl. 

According  to  the  old  Chinese  encyclopedia  pub- 
lished in  1596,  the  first  of  these  birds  was  intro- 
duced from  the  West  into  China  about  1400  b.  c. 
This  is  the  earliest  authentic  mention  of  the  do- 
mesticated fowl.  No  remains  have  been  found 
in  the  ancient  Swiss  lake-dwellings,  nor  is  there 
mention  of  it  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  un- 
known to  the  old  Egyptians  and  to  Homeric 
Greece.    In  India  the  people  first  began  to  breed 


62       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

the  fowl  some  time  between  1200  and  800  b.  c. 

When  the  domesticated  bird  was  at  last  firmly 
established  in  India,  it  spread  rapidly  westward. 
By  700  B.  c.  it  was  to  be  seen  figured  on  Babylon- 
ian cylinders.  A  century  or  so  later  it  had 
reached  Europe,  though,  strange  to  say,  not  Italy. 
When  the  Romans  conquered  Gaul  and  later 
Britain,  they  found  the  fowl  already  naturalized 
in  those  two  countries.  They  believed  it  to  be 
a  native  of  Gaul,  and  called  it  gcdlus. 

From  China  these  domesticated  jungle-birds 
quickly  spread  to  what  is  now  Siberia  and  were 
utilized  by  the  nomadic  tribes  which  roamed 
there.  Their  first  foothold  in  Africa  was  ob- 
tained through  the  Egj^tians.  To  America  the 
first  birds  were  brought  by  the  Spaniards,  to- 
gether with  the  horse.  American  breeds  have 
since  been  introduced  into  the  East ;  and  thus  the 
domestic  fowl  has  completed  its  westward  cycle 
from  the  region  of  its  birth. 

3 

Breeds  of  Fowl 

If  any  wild  species  of  animal  or  bird  is  held 
in  domestication  for  a  sufficient  number  of  genera- 
tions, abnormal  characteristics,  such  as  albino- 
ism,  changes  in  color-pattern,  or  almost  any  non- 
conformity to  the  original  type,  are  sure  to  crop 
out  in  some  individuals.     Some  species,  however, 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  63 

are  far  more  susceptible  than  others  to  such  a 
change  in  environment  and  quickly  diverge  from 
the  normal.  One  of  these  species  is  the  red 
jungle  fowl.  Under  domestication  it  soon  loses 
its  identity.  Owing  to  this  fact,  the  first  people 
who  bred  it  in  captivity,  though  probably  un- 
familiar with  any  of  the  present  theories  of  arti- 
ficial selection,  took  advantage  of  every  change  of 
coloring,  size,  and  shape  to  fit  the  bird  to  their 
needs. 

Thus  new  breeds,  sub-breeds,  and  varieties 
rapidly  came  into  existence.  At  an  early  date 
some  European  breeds  were  clearly  estab- 
lished. Columella,  the  famous  Eoman  agri- 
cultural writer,  in  the  first  years  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  stated  that  he  **  particularly  recommends 
as  the  best  those  sorts  [of  chickens]  that  have 
five  toes  and  white  ears.''  Seven  breeds  are 
known  to  have  existed  in  China  in  1596,  and  about 
the  same  number  were  described  as  Italian  by 
Aldrovandi,  in  1600,  in  his  ^^ Natural  History.'^ 
Darwin  recognized  only  twelve  breeds,  but  under 
the  heading  of  each  he  named  numerous  sub- 
divisions. 

Since  the  publication  of  Darwin's  ^* Animals 
and  Plants  under  Domestication,"  artificial  se- 
lection has  played  a  greater  part  in  the  destiny 
of  domesticated  creatures  than  ever  before. 
Selection  has  become  a  definite  science,  governed 
by  well-established  fundamental  laws.     The  re- 


64      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

suit  has  been  a  great  increase  in  the  number  of 
breeds  of  fowl  and  an  enormous  addition  to  the 
list  of  minor  varieties  and  strains.  For  example, 
there  were  in  the  time  of  Darwin  about  seven 
recognized  varieties  of  Polish  fowl;  now  there 
are  nearly  thirty. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  fowl  now  em- 
ployed in  America.  We  have  buff  cochins, 
brahmas,  Plymouth  Rocks,  wyandottes,  Orping- 
tons, Rhode  Island  reds,  chittagongs,  Indian 
games,  Malays,  black  Spanish,  Leghorns,  blue 
Andalusians,  Minorcas,  Anconas,  Hamburgs, 
Houdans,  dorkings,  Faverolles,  and  langshans. 
These  are  virtually  all  utility  breeds,  whereas 
there  remain  a  great  quantity  of  fancy  varieties 
of  minor  economic  value,  and  innumerable  ban- 
tams. 

The  origin  of  some  of  these  breeds  and  strains 
is  highly  complex.  Many  are  the  result  of  crosses 
and  re-crosses  and  inter-crosses  so  mingled  as  to 
defy  any  attempt  at  analysis.  Some  have  been 
recently  created;  others  are  almost  as  ancient  as 
European  civilization.  Native  American  strains 
are  comparatively  new,  whereas  the  five-toed 
dorking,  for  instance,  was  introduced  into  Britain 
by  the  Romans. 

Of  all  the  modem  American  breeds,  the  Ply- 
mouth Rock  has  proved  the  most  important.  The 
name  was  first  applied  to  a  very  much  crossed 
fowl  produced  in  1850,  but  this  bird  was  not  the 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  65 

forebear  of  the  true  Pljonouth  Eock.  The  breed 
probably  originated  in  1870  as  the  resultant  of 
any  one  of  six  different  crosses,  all  of  which 
produced  the  same  type  of  bird.  The  basic  stock 
was  the  Dominique,  the  name  applied  to  a  fowl 
of  common  lineage  and  blue,  gray,  and  white  mot- 
tled appearance.  Upon  this  bird  the  following 
crosses  were  made:  (1)  Spanish  crossed  with 
white  cochin,  the  result  bred  to  the  Dominique; 
(2)  Dominique  mated  with  a  buff  cochin;  (3) 
white  Birmingham  on  black  Java,  the  produce 
coming  white,  black,  and  Dominique — Dominiques 
alone  bred  together;  (4)  any  of  the  above  crossed 
with  the  Dominique ;  (5)  black  Java  on  Dominique ; 
(6)  some  of  the  above  crossed  with  the  brahma. 

Second  only  to  the  Plymouth  Kock  in  impor- 
tance as  an  American  breed  is  the  wyandotte. 
This  also  originated  in  1870,  coming  from  a  cross 
between  the  Hamburg  and  the  light  brahma.  The 
breeds  used  in  making  the  Ehode  Island  red — the 
third  most  important  American-bred  fowl — were 
the  red  Java,  the  chittagong,  the  red  Malay,  and 
the  cochin-china.  This  fowl  was  the  result  of 
long  years  of  selection  for  a  bird  which  would 
include  the  three  factors  that  stand  nearest  the 
poultryman's  heart:  eggs,  broilers  and  roasters. 

Although  a  considerable  number  of  strains  of 
Orpingtons  are  the  product  of  American  breeders, 
the  original  Orpington  was  developed  in  England. 
The  Leghorn  arrived  from  Italy,  being  probably 


66      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

of  Spanisli  ancestry,  though  our  knowledge  of  its 
source  is  meager.  It,  however,  was  introduced 
into  England  from  the  United  States.  Most  Ham- 
burgs,  despite  their  German  name,  are  English. 
The  brahma  is  the  result  of  a  cross  between  the  co- 
chin and  the  gray  chittagong,  the  first  cochin  hav- 
ing been  imported  from  Shanghai.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  general  utility  of  all  these  foreign  breeds, 
the  United  States  owes  nine  tenths  of  her  egg  pro- 
duction to  native  stock,  with  the  addition  of  the 
Leghorn. 

Speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  economics, 
the  utility  fowl  has  always  been  the  most  impor- 
tant factor  in  poultry  culture.  It  was,  however, 
only  a  few  decades  ago  that  scientific  treatment 
of  the  utility  bird  was  undertaken.  Until  the 
nineteenth  century  was  well  along  there  were  no 
great  poultry  farms  or  production  of  eggs  and 
fowl  on  a  big  scale.  Market  produce  came  from 
the  small  farmers;  poultry  and  eggs  which 
reached  the  cities  were  those  left  over  from  the 
requirements  of  the  farm. 

But  in  those  former  days,  while  there  was  little 
attempt  to  establish  utility  flocks  of  great  size, 
a  wide-spread  craze  was  prevalent  for  creating 
new  and  fanciful  looking  breeds — something  that 
would  please  the  eye  if  not  the  stomach.  Oddly 
caparisoned  fowl  were  sought  for,  birds  with 
crests  which  burst  from  the  top  of  the  head  like 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  67 

chrysanthemums,  others  with  cauliflower  combs, 
silky  hackles,  bright  colorings,  feathered  legs, 
and  hairy  or  curly  feathers. 

So  great  was  the  depth  of  variation  in  this  do- 
mestic species  that  the  fanciers  obtained  almost 
any  form  they  desired.  Almost  any  weird  com- 
bination of  external  characters  could  be  found 
and  ^' fixed''  by  selective  breeding.  Davenport 
states  that  ^^  there  have  been  reared  chicks  with 
toes  grown  together  by  the  web,  without  toenails, 
or  with  two  toenails  on  one  toe;  but  with  two 
pairs  of  spurs;  without  oil-gland  or  tail  (though 
from  tailed  ancestry) ;  and  with  neck  nearly  de- 
void of  feathers.  .  .  .  '' 

Included  in  his  description  are  fowls  with  a 
swelling  on  the  top  of  the  skull  which  causes 
large  crests  of  feathers  to  grow  on  the  head;  ill- 
formed  feathers  which  cover  the  body  like  tangled 
hair;  and  feathers  which  grow  forward  along  the 
body  instead  of  backward.  Of  the  comb  he  has 
secured  ^'a  score  of  forms:  single,  double,  triple, 
quintuple  and  walnut,  V-shaped,  club-shaped, 
comprising  two  horns,  or  four  or  six,  absent  pos- 
teriorly, absent  anteriorly,  and  absent  alto- 
gether." These  are  but  a  few  of  the  possibilities 
wliich  confront  the  breeder  of  grotesque  types. 
Therefore  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  why,  before  the 
cry  for  more  eggs  and  more  poultry  was  raised  by 
the    rapidly    increasing    city    populations,    the 


68      THE  IMPOETAXCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

breeder  was  tempted  to  perpetuate  them.  With 
his  meager  knowledge  he  seleeted  along  the  lines 
of  least  resistanee. 

From  their  earliest  begiiniings,  however,  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  Australia  and  many 
colonial  possessions  of  Great  Britain,  did  not  take 
so  kindly  to  the  production  of  fancy  fowl  as  the 
older  countries.  With  them  life  was  a  struggle 
for  existence;  the  pioneers  of  a  new  land  could 
not  alYord  to  waste  their  energies  on  materia) 
which  brought  no  economic  return.  Their  atten- 
tion was  riveted  upon  the  development  of  the  new 
territory.  Fowls  as  food  were  a  necessity,  orna- 
mental birds  a  superfluous  luxury. 

With  this  axiom  inculcated  in  them  from  their 
earliest  colonial  days,  Americans  have  made  pro- 
duction their  greatest  aim.  Therefore  it  hap- 
pened that  they  were  the  tirst  people  to  place 
poultry-raising  upon  a  truly  scientific  basis. 
New  breeds,  entirely  utilitarian,  were  established- 
Old  breeds  were  renovated  by  the  addition  of  new 
blood,  and  fresh  strains  evolved.  From  Italy 
were  brought  the  Leghorn  fowl,  and,  because  they 
were  excellent  layers,  they  received  popular  ap- 
proval. American  breeds  became  famous,  and 
presently  native  varieties  from  the  Xew  World 
were  flowing  across  the  Atlantic  to  Europe  and 
England. 

But  the  older  countries,  though  slow  to  begin, 
soon  caught  up  with  the  rush  of  activity  under 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  69 

way  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  Great 
Britain  was  especially  quick  to  realize  that  home 
consumption  of  poultry  was  fast  outstripping 
home  production.  In  characteristic  fashion  she 
took  the  matter  in  hand.  ^^ Utility"  societies 
were  formed,  worth-while  prizes  offered,  and 
everything  was  done  to  encourage  the  breeding 
of  flesh-  and  egg-producing  fowl.  Soon  her  poul- 
try industry  was  greater,  in  proportion  to  the 
small  area  of  territory  involved,  than  that  of  the 
United  States.  The  industry  proved  a  gold-mine 
for  Ireland. 


Poultry  Farming 

It  was  about  1870  that  the  world  suddenly  awoke 
to  its  need  for  more  poultry.  Since  the  ad- 
vent of  the  breech-loading  shot-gun,  feathered 
game  had  showed  a  marked  decrease  throughout 
Europe.  Shops  we-re  no  longer  filled  with  game- 
birds,  and  something  was  needed  to  take  their 
place.  Small  farmers  attempted  to  stop  the  gap 
with  poultry,  but  the  demands  of  the  people 
greatly  exceeded  the  meager  allowance  that  the 
peasants  were  able  to  scrape  together.  The  value 
of  poultry  rose  to  a  premium;  a  sufdden  impetus 
was  given  to  the  fowl  industry. 

The  ordinary  system  of  setting  a  hen  to  hatch 
a  clutch  of  eggs  had  hitherto  proved  profitable, 


70      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

but  it  was  slow.  The  time  had  now  arrived  when 
small  business  measures  no  longer  would  do.  The 
markets  called  for  poultry  in  enormous  quantities. 
The  result  was  the  introduction  of  incubators  on  a 
wide  scale.  It  was  discovered  that,  instead  of  the 
clumsy  communal  contrivances  employed  by  the 
ancient  and  modern  Egyptians,  machines  could 
be  built  to  serve  the  purpose  of  individual  pro- 
ducers at  a  minimum  cost  in  money  and  labor. 
Small  incubators  became  the  fashion,  and  modern 
poultry-raising  thus  received  its  start. 

The  poultry  business  in  fifty  years  has  increased 
tenfold.  Under  present  methods  the  chicks  are 
placed  in  a  heated  brooder-house  twenty-four 
hours  after  they  arrive  from  the  incubator.  The 
brooder-house  usually  is  a  small  room  with  an 
easily  regulated  stove  in  the  center.  Around  the 
stove  is  a  low,  circular  hood,  raised  a  few  inches 
from  the  floor,  under  which  the  chicks  may  gather 
without  getting  burned.  This  is  termed  the 
*^ hover,"  and,  if  the  temperature  is  too  great  be- 
neath its  folds,  the  chicks  have  access  to  the 
farther  parts  of  the  room  where  the  heat  is  less. 

As  soon  as  the  chicks  are  a  few  days  old  they 
generally  are  permitted  to  run  in  a  small  en- 
closed yard  adjoining  the  brooder-house.  After 
their  down  feathers  are  shed  it  is  safe,  if  the 
owner  so  desires,  to  let  them  roam  around  a  larger 
yard  or  even  over  the  farm  at  will.  This,  how- 
ever, applies  only  to  pullets  and  young  stock 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  71 

later  to  be  used  for  breeding  purposes.  Chicks 
reared  especially  for  the  market  should  be  kept 
in  close  confinement  in  order  that  all  food  con- 
sumed may  go  toward  the  production  of  flesh. 
They  never  are  allowed  to  leave  the  small  run- 
way outside  the  brooder-house. 

The  earliest  age  for  marketing  chicks  is  when 
they  are  about  six  weeks  old.  At  the  present 
day  these  young  ^^squab-broilers/*  weighing  about 
three  quarters  of  a  pound,  have  considerable 
vogue  in  America,  where  they  have  successfully 
taken  the  place  of  small  game.  They  are  equally 
sought  for  in  Europe,  where  they  are  employed 
for  the  same  purpose. 

When  the  chicks  are  eight  to  twelve  weeks  old 
they  become  full-fledged  *^ broilers.''  These  are 
purely  an  American  creation,  the  business  of  pro- 
ducing them  on  a  large  scale  having  been  initiated 
at  Hammonton,  New  Jersey,  between  1880  and 
1885,  when  a  number  of  large  plants  were  opened. 
Since  that  date  the  ^^ broiler''  business  has  de- 
veloped into  one  of  the  most  lucrative  phases  of 
poultry  husbandry. 

Probably  the  most  ancient  of  all  ** special" 
classes  of  fowl  is  the  capon.  It  was  well  known 
to  the  early  Romans  and  as  highly  relished  then 
as  now.  The  caponizing  operation  is  performed 
on  the  young  cockerels  of  heavy  breeds  when 
they  are  two  or  three  months  old,  and  thereafter 
the  growth  of  the  bird  is  very  rapid.     Fowl  thus 


72      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

treated  wiU  reach  a  weight  of  ten  or  twelve 
pounds,  while  their  flesh  remains  soft  and  tender. 

But  capons  are  a  specialty  in  the  world  of 
poultry  and,  although  attaining  much  popularity 
in  America,  they  still  fall  behind  the  birds  known 
as  *^ roasters/*  These  are  individuals  graduated 
from  the  *^ broiler**  stage,  which  have  reached 
five  or  more  pounds  in  weight.  *  ^  Hens  *  *  are  fowl 
which  have  passed  the  one-year  mark.  They  are 
fricassee  or  boihng  fowl. 

In  case  a  young  cockerel  is  intended  to  become 
a  ** roaster**  it  undergoes  a  process  of  fattening 
for  ten  days  to  a  month  before  marketing.  This 
fattening,  or  ** cramming,**  of  fowl  has  existed 
as  an  art  in  Europe  for  two  thousand  years,  but 
only  within  the  last  generation  has  it  been  widely 
undertaken  in  the  United  States. 

Cramming  may  if  necessary  be  done  by  hand. 
The  fattening  food  then  is  made  into  a  thick 
paste,  which  is  rolled  into  pellets  and  forced  down 
the  bird*s  throat.  The  victim  thereupon  is  re- 
turned to  a  narrow  fattening-pen  to  await  a 
repetition  of  the  dose  due  in  a  few  hours.  In 
place  of  pellets,  however,  a  funnel  may  be  intro- 
duced into  the  throat  and  the  food  poured  down 
as  a  liquid.  Again,  a  machine  resembling  a  meat- 
grinder  is  sometimes  employed.  In  this  case  a 
tube  is  fitted  into  the  mouth  of  the  caged  cockerel, 
a  man  turns  the  crank  of  the  machine,  and  the 
food  is  forced  into  the  stomach.     The  first  system 


BUFF    ORPINv.luN' 


Courtesy  of  Lee  S.  Crandal 


THE    RED    JUNGLE    FOWL ANXESTOR   OF    ALL 

DOMESTIC    BREEDS 


BUFF    ORPINGTON    CAPON 

Compare  size  and  shape  with  the  cock 
above 


Courtesy  of  Lee  S.  Crandal 

SILKY    BANT.\MS — A    CREATION    OF    THE 
breeder's   FANCY 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  73 

of  cramming  is  too  laborious  to  be  utilized  on  a 
big  scale;  the  other  two  are  excessively  cruel  to 
the  bird. 

When  the  fowl  is  ready  for  the  market  all  food 
is  withheld  for  a  few  hours  previous  to  the  kill- 
ing. The  killing  is  done  with  a  sharp  knife  by 
severing  the  large  arteries  of  the  neck  through 
the  mouth.  A  sudden  twist  causes  the  knife  at 
the  same  instant  to  penetrate  the  brain,  causing 
immediate  and  painless  death.  Plucking  is  under- 
taken at  once;  should  there  be  a  delay  of  only  a 
few  minutes  the  skin  becomes  strangely  soft  and 
easily  tears.  The  average  picker  works  witli 
great  speed  and  can  completely  denude  twelve 
fowl  an  hour. 

After  the  small  pin-feathers  have  been  removed 
with  a  knife  and  the  body  singed,  the  bird  is 
placed  in  a  shaping-trough.  This  consists  merely 
of  two  boards  placed  lengthwise  at  right  angles 
and  nailed.  The  fowl  is  placed  breast  down  with 
a  third  board  weighted  and  pressing  upon  its 
back.  The  flesh  is  thus  forced  downward  toward 
the  breast.  As  it  cools  the  flesh  hardens  in  place, 
giving  the  fowl  the  appearance  of  owning  a  full 
breast,  a  delusion  meant  for  the  eye  of  the  pros- 
pective buyer. 

The  production  of  poultry  has  reached  greater 
proportions  in  the  United  States  than  in  any  other 
country  of  the  world.  The  government  census 
reports  of  January  1,  1920,  showed  that  there 


74      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

then  existed  more  than  a  third  of  a  billion  living 
fowls  in  this  country.  In  other  words,  there  were 
three  of  these  birds  present  to  every  person  in 
the  United  States.  Iowa  led  with  twenty-seven 
million,  and  in  New  York  there  were  more  than 
ten  million  with  a  value  of  $15,348,600.  Including 
all  the  fowl  reared  and  sold  during  the  months 
before  the  census  was  taken,  the  value  of  poultry 
in  the  United  States  reached  the  tremendous  sum 
of  a  billion  dollars. 


Egg  Production 

Fully  as  important,  however,  as  the  poultry 
themselves  are  the  eggs  they  are  responsible  for. 
Egg  production  and  how  to  increase  it  offers  a 
wealthy  field  to  experimenters  and  scientific 
breeders.  To  heighten  the  level  of  average  flock 
performance  is  the  universal  aim,  and,  though 
much  has  been  accomplished  in  that  direction, 
there  is  still  great  room  for  improvement.  **An 
egg  a  day''  has  been  the  war-cry  of  breeders  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  but  the  hens  have  yet  a 
long  distance  to  travel  toward  the  attainment  of 
their  ultimate  goal. 

Nowadays  it  is  not  uncommon  for  individual 
hens  to  lay  more  than  200  eggs  in  a  year,  but  a 
large  flock  seldom  approaches  that  average.  Such 
an  instance  has  occurred,  however.    A  flock  of 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  75 

600  Leghorns  made  a  record  of  196  eggs  apiece! 
In  England  a  pen  of  eighteen  birds  once  laid  more 
than  200  eggs  to  the  hen,  and  at  Cornell  University 
a  single  leading  spirit  has  accounted  for  258  in 
one  year ! 

Although  the  breeder  relies  upon  selection  to 
produce  his  prolific  strains,  he  gives  a  great  deal 
of  thought  to  the  proper  feeding  of  his  flock.  The 
number  of  eggs  a  hen  is  capable  of  laying  de- 
pends entirely  upon  her  food.  In  order  to  do  her 
best,  she  must  receive  a  well-balanced  ration,  one 
which  contains  a  sufficiency  of  protein,  or  muscle- 
and  energy-producing  food,  together  with  carbo- 
hydrates whose  function  is  to  make  fat  and  de- 
velop body  heat.  These  are  administered  in 
large  enough  quantities  to  counterbalance  the 
elements  consumed  in  restoring  waste  tissue,  the 
production  of  an  egg,  and  the  generation  of  heat. 
To  the  ration  are  added  plenty  of  water  and  green 
food  for  maintaining  the  water-content  of  the 
body  and  eggs,  and  for  serving  to  keep  the  bird 
in  proper  health  and  production. 

Attempts  by  other  means  than  the  selection  of 
good  strains  and  scientific  feeding  have  been  made 
to  increase  the  laying  capacity  of  a  flock,  but  thus 
far  they  have  met  with  a  small  amount  of  real 
success.  Working  under  the  fallacious  idea  that 
the  hen,  upon  missing  her  egg,  will  soon  replace 
it  with  another,  people  have  constructed  trap- 
nests  in  which  the  egg  rolls  away  from  the  hen 


76      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

as  soon  as  it  is  laid.  The  use  of  artificial  light 
has  also  been  tried,  the  object  being  to  prolong  the 
daylight  hours.  Although  some  flocks  have 
actually  been  made  to  increase  their  output  by 
this  means,  the  practical  value  of  the  system  has 
not  yet  been  wholly  proved. 

Arriving  at  the  consumption  of  eggs  in  the 
United  States,  we  find  that  it  matches  that  of 
poultry.  There  were  more  than  a  billion  and  a 
half  dozen  placed  on  the  market  in  1919,  or  about 
180  eggs  per  capita.  New  York  City  alone  daily 
consumes  between  three  and  four  million.  The 
production  in  the  United  States,  though  it  did 
not  reach  the  figures  of  the  previous  year,  was 
valued  at  more  than  half  a  billion  dollars.  The 
average  adult  city  dweller  annually  spends  about 
$20  on  eggs. 

But,  despite  the  enormous  quantities  eaten, 
there  is  always  a  surplus  left  over.  This  is  em- 
ployed in  a  number  of  ways,  for  export,  canning, 
drying,  and  in  divers  industries.  Although  for  the 
present  exporting  is  at  a  low  ebb,  there  are  en- 
couraging signs  that  it  soon  will  return  to  a  pre- 
war standard.  The  canning  and  drying  of  eggs, 
however,  continues,  and  each  year  hundreds  of 
millions  are  cared  for  in  this  way.  Calico-print- 
ing consumes  approximately  half  a  billion  each 
year;  book-binding,  glove-making,  and  other 
leather  industries  take  about  half  that  amount. 
And  before  the  ratification  of  the  Eighteenth 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  77 

Amendment  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  million 
were  utilized  in  clarifying  wine. 

Eggs  are  not  so  abundant  in  Great  Britain  as 
they  are  in  America.  There,  as  with  her  poultry, 
the  home-grown  supply  has  never  been  sufficient 
to  meet  the  demand.  Until  the  beginning  of  the 
World  War,  England  was  forced  to  depend  largely 
upon  the  European  markets.  So  large  was  the 
number  of  eggs  imported  that  they  came  to  about 
fifty-five  for  each  person  in  England  and  Scotland. 
Eussia  was  the  chief  beneficiary  of  the  trade, 
with  an  annual  export  surplus  valued  at  more 
than  $15,000,000.  Denmark  exported  about  half 
that  much.  The  United  States  did  not  figure, 
except  in  a  small  way,  until  1915,  when  she 
took  the  place  of  the  belligerent  European  coun- 
tries. 

What  the  domestication  of  the  red  jungle  fowl 
has  meant  to  mankind  cannot  be  indicated  in 
actual  figures.  The  fowl  has  supplied  food  to 
countless  millions  of  people  through  a  hundred 
generations.  It  has  brought  a  money  income 
and  livelihood  to  untold  numbers  and  has  made 
possible  the  survival  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
small  farms.  Without  it  the  world  would  have 
missed  a  factor  of  tremendous  importance  in  the 
advancement  of  civilization.  To-day  the  com- 
bined annual  poultry  products  of  the  world  prob- 
ably exceed  the  great  American  war  debt  in  value. 
They  have  been  estimated  at  $25,000,000,000. 


78       THE  IMPOETANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 


The  Turkey 

The  descendants  of  the  wild  jungle  fowl,  how- 
ever, are  not  the  only  domesticated  birds  to  which 
the  world  owes  an  everlasting  debt  of  gratitude. 
There  are,  among  others,  the  turkey,  the  duck,  the 
goose,  and  the  guinea-fowl. 

The  first  bird,  a  native  of  North  and  Central 
America,  was  introduced  into  Europe  about  1530 
by  the  Spaniards.  It  has  been  contended  that 
Cabot  or  another  British  explorer  brought  it  to 
England  at  an  earlier  date,  but  documentary 
evidence  fails  to  prove  its  presence  there  before 
1541.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  turkey  obtained  a 
firm  foothold  in  Europe  within  fifty  years  of  the 
discovery  of  America.  There,  in  Mexico,  it  had 
been  in  a  state  of  semi-domestication  for  centuries 
before  the  arrival  of  the  white  man. 

Again,  the  uncertain  origin  of  the  name 
*^ turkey^'  has  also  been  the  cause  of  considerable 
controversy.  As  the  bird  did  not  come  originally 
from  the  land  of  the  Turks,  the  name  cannot  have 
arisen  as  a  common  appellation  of  that  country. 
Some  authorities  imply  it  to  the  resemblance  of 
the  tassel  on  the  head  of  the  bird  to  the  red  fez 
of  the  Turkish  costume.  Others  believe  that  it 
may  have  arisen  from  the  word  ^* turquoise,''  in 
conjunction  with  the  blue   excrescences  on  the 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  79^ 

neck.  A  third  contingent  say  that  it  is  a  turJceif 
because  the  bird  is  as  overbearing  as  a  Turk. 
The  reader  may  take  his  choice. 

Unlike  the  jungle  fowl,  the  turkey  under  do-^ 
mestication  does  not  show  a  wide  range  of  vari- 
ability. It  thrives  under  the  care  of  man,  but  is 
slow  to  yield  to  artificial  selection  for  new  types. 
There  are  only  a  few  recognized  breeds,  either 
in  the  United  States  or  abroad.  The  largest  of 
all  these  is  the  American  bronze,  the  chief 
commercial  turkey  of  the  States.  English  breeds 
are  not  so  large,  and  the  French  are  still  smaller ; 
but  even  the  great  bronze  cannot  compare  with 
the  largest  of  the  wild  birds.  Wild  gobblers- 
have  been  shot  weighing  sixty  pounds  or  more, 
whereas  an  extraordinarily  large  domestic  bird 
will  tip  the  scales  at  forty-five  pounds. 

There  is  no  more  difficult  domesticated  bird  to 
rear  than  the  turkey.  The  newly  hatched  chicks 
are  especially  affected  by  any  sudden  change  of 
weather.  A  downpour  of  rain  may  prove  fatal 
to  an  entire  brood.  Their  food  also  requires 
close  attention.  At  an  older  age  they  are  highly 
susceptible  to  disease;  an  epidemic  of  blackhead 
or  roup  may  wipe  out  a  flock  within  twenty-four 
hours.  When  fully  grown,  however,  the  turkey  is 
as  hardy  as  any  fowl. 

Production  of  these  birds  in  the  United  States 
annually  runs  into  several  millions,  a  majority 
of  which  are  consumed  on  Thanksgiving  day  or 


80      THE  IMPOKTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Christmas.  As  a  general  rule,  small  buyers 
collect  them  in  small  lots  from  the  farmers. 
"When  sufficient  have  been  gathered  together  the 
turkeys  are  driven  in  flocks  to  a  common  butcher- 
ing ground,  where  they  are  killed  and  prepared 
for  market.  Although  they  are  often  driven  for 
days  along  the  highway,  their  progress  is  slow  and 
they  generally  reach  the  place  of  slaughter  in  good 
condition.  Owing  to  their  superior  quality  of 
flesh,  the  demand  is  great,  and  the  price  of  turkey 
remains  at  a  high  level.  In  1919  there  were 
birds  to  the  value  of  about  $13,000,000  in  the 
United  States. 

7 
The  Domestic  Goose 

Although  in  America  the  turkey  stands  second 
to  the  domestic  fowl  in  economic  importance,  it 
is  only  slightly  in  advance  of  the  goose.  This, 
so  far  as  we  know,  is  the  most  ancient  of  all  do- 
mesticated birds,  for  it  was  known  and  fattened 
by  the  Egyptians  2000  years  before  Christ.  The 
Romans  also  knew  it  well  and  regarded  it  as  a 
sacred  bird.  Nevertheless,  its  sanctity  did  not 
protect  it  from  the  Roman  epicures,  who  deemed 
the  liver  of  a  white  goose  the  choicest  of  all 
morsels. 

While  never  so  popular  a  table  dish  in  America 
as  in  Europe,  and  Germany  especially,  geese  are 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  81 

produced  here  in  greater  numbers  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  world  to-day.  This  is  due  more  than 
anything  else  to  the  great  territorial  size  of  the 
United  States,  although  there  is  a  great  demand 
for  upholstery  feathers.  The  bird  itself  is  not 
highly  popular  on  our  tables,  and  within  the  last 
decade  the  number  reared  in  America  has  de- 
creased by  one  third. 

Thousands  of  geese  are  killed  each  year  in 
Germany  for  their  liver,  out  of  which  is  manu- 
factured the  famous  pate  de  foie  gras.  To  secure 
the  pate  the  birds  are  fattened  until  their  livers 
swell  to  enormous  size.  The  methods  employed 
to  obtain  this  diseased  condition  are  many,  and 
all  are  unalterably  cruel.  They  need  not  be 
spoken  of  here. 

Because  of  the  ancient  origin  of  the  domestic 
goose  it  has  proved  difficult  to  trace  with  absolute 
certainty  its  lineage.  The  ancestor  of  the 
Chinese  breed  has  never  been  authentically 
identified.  On  the  other  hand,  evidence  points 
toward  the  wild  graylag  as  being  the  forefather 
of  the  European  breeds.  This  bird  is  still  taken 
in  the  wild  state  by  the  Laplanders  and  lives  well 
in  captivity. 

Virtually  all  the  breeds  found  in  the  United 
States  come  either  from  Europe  or  China.  De- 
spite its  long  period  of  domestication  the  goose  has 
not  shown  a  tendency  to  vary  far  from  the  native 
type.    Thus  in   all  we  have  merely  the  large 


82      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Toulouse  goose,  the  Emden,  and  the  African 
breeds  from  Europe,  and  two  small  Chinese  vari- 
eties,  the  brown  and  the  white,  from  the  Orient, 
with  one  or  two  other  varieties-  of  minor  impor- 
tance. The  native  Canada  goose  shows  signs  of 
reacting  to  domestication,  and  the  time  may  not 
be  far  distant  when  new  breeds  of  this  species 
will  be  produced. 

'8 
The  Domestic  Duck 

Next  in  importance  to  the  goose  is  the  duck. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Moscovy  duck  of  South 
America,  all  our  breeds  have  descended  from  a 
single  world-wide  species,  the  mallard.  Like  the 
red  jungle  fowl,  this  bird  responds  to  domestica- 
tion by  wide  divergence  from  the  original. 

So  great  has  been  the  breadth  of  variation  that 
it  is  difficult  to  believe  all  our  domestic  forms 
arose  from  a  single  parent  type.  Darwin  divided 
them  into  four  great  structural  breeds:  (1) 
the  common  domestic  duck,  in  which  are  included 
the  Pekin,  Rouen,  the  tufted  duck  of  Holland, 
and  the  Labrador;  (2)  the  hook-billed  duck,  an 
ancient  breed  and  an  excellent  layer,  first  observed 
in  1676;  (3)  the  call  duck,  small  and  noisy;  and 
(4)  the  penguin  duck,  which  probably  originated 
in  the  Malayan  archipelago  and  is  now  known  as 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  83 

the  Indian  runner.  Since  Darwin's  time  many 
other  breeds  have  been  added  to  the  list. 

By  far  the  most  important  of  all  the  varieties 
and  strains  is  the  Pekin.  Although  outranked  in 
parts  of  Europe  by  the  Rouen  and  the  Aylesbury, 
it  is  the  commercial  duck  of  the  United  States. 
Millions  are  consumed  here  and  large  numbers 
are  produced.  Iowa  alone,  in  1920,  reared  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  million. 

Large  duck  plants  generally  are  situated  near 
a  body  of  water, — a  stream,  lake,  or  bay, — al- 
though this  is  not  an  absolute  necessity.  The 
birds  begin  to  lay  in  December  or  January  and  con- 
tinue until  June.  The  ducklings  are  hatched  in 
large  incubators  and  marketed  when  from  nine  to 
twelve  weeks  old.  The  average  plant  with  one 
or  two  thousand  breeders  will  produce  from 
twenty  to  forty  thousand  young  ducks.  As  many 
as  ninety  thousand,  however,  have  been  sold  from 
one  ranch  in  a  single  season. 

9 

The  Guinea-Fowl 

Not  quite  so  popular  as  the  duck  is  the  guinea- 
fowl.  A  native  of  West  Africa,  it  has  been  un- 
der domestication  from  the  time  of  the  Pheni- 
cians;  but  in  all  these  thousands  of  years  it  has 
scarcely  altered  one  tithe  from  the  original  form. 
Unlike  other  domestic  birds  it  has  never  lost  its 


84      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

distrust  of  mankind.  It  is  a  wary  creature  and 
if  loosed  in  an  uninhabited  locality  quickly  returns 
to  a  feral  state. 

Because  of  its  suspicious  nature  the  guinea- 
fowl  is  generally  left  to  hatch  its  eggs  and  rear 
its  young  by  itself.  The  bird  therefore  does  not 
lend  itself  to  commercial  production  on  a  large 
scale.  Nevertheless,  there  were  nearly  two  and 
a  half  million  of  these  half-wild  fowl  in  the 
United  States  in  1920.  Their  numerical  in- 
crease has  been  large  in  the  last  decade,  omng 
to  the  fact  that  their  flesh  is  gamy  and  palatable. 
In  a  large  way  they  have  taken  the  place  of  game 
in  our  markets. 

10 

What  Is  Coming? 

Despite  all  our  domestic  breeds  of  chickens, 
geese,  turkeys,  ducks,  and  guinea-fowl,  poultry 
husbandry  is  only  in  its  infancy.  There  are  many 
other  species  to  be  heard  from.  In  North 
America  the  Canada  goose  bids  fair  to  be  the  fore- 
father of  a  valuable  domestic  breed.  The  Mus- 
covy duck  of  the  Amazon  and  northern  South 
America  already  is  established  as  a  commercial 
breed  and  soon  may  fight  for  honors  with  the 
Pekin.  The  South  American  tinamou  and  curas- 
sow,  now  running  wild  in  their  native  jungles, 
are  possibilities  of  the  future.    With  the  growing 


DOMESTIC  FOWL  85 

enthusiasm  for  breeding  game-birds  in  captivity 
now  in  vogue,  what  new  and  economically  valuable 
domestic  breeds  may  not  arise? 

No  one  can  foretell  just  what  scientific  methods 
of  breeding  and  selection  will  discover  a  hundred 
years  hence. 


CHAPTER  V 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS 


1.  Their  Ancestry.  2.  Domestic  Breeds.  3.  Tumblers.  4. 
Trap-Shooting.  5.  Pigeon  Flying.  6.  Pigeons  As  Mes- 
sengers.    7.    Pigeons  As  Food. 


Their  Ancestry 

The  pigeon  is  one  of  the  oldest  domesticated 
birds  on  record,  and,  like  the  goose,  its  earliest 
history  is  shrouded  in  antiquity.  It  was  figured 
by  ancient  writers  shortly  after  the  dawn  of 
history  and  at  the  present  day  is  described  in  the 
literature  of  all  nations. 

The  first  authoritative  note  concerning  this 
bird  comes  from  the  fifth  dynasty  of  ancient 
^SYV^y  with  an  antiquity  of  4500  years.  There 
we  find  a  pigeon  pictured  on  the  walls  of  the  tomb 
of  one  of  the  great  princes  of  that  day.  Later, 
Solomon  is  reputed  to  have  utilized  it  as  a  message 
carrier.  Reports  of  the  Olytmpic  games  were 
forwarded  in  the  same  manner  to  the  Greek  cities. 
Still  later,  the  first  official  word  of  the  success- 
ful conquest  of  Gaul  was  received  in  Rome  by 
*' pigeon  post.''    Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  the 

86 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  87 

Christian  era,  the  domestic  pigeon  was  already 
an  old  established  breed. 

Like  the  barn-yard  cock,  the  pigeon  and  all  its 
races  arose  from  a  single  ancestral  form,  the 
wild  rock  dove.  This  species  still  exists  in  Eng- 
land and  the  mountainous  parts  of  Europe,  ex- 
tending through  Asia  down  into  India.  Both  the 
wild  and  domestic  forms  live  together  in  perfect 
harmony,  and  both  are  found  on  the  streets  of 
Paris,  the  rock  dove  as  much  at  home  as  its  more 
specialized  brother  and  nearly  as  tame.  The  wild 
bird  has  been  attracted  to  the  city  where,  while 
retaining  its  freedom,  it  can  at  the  same  time 
take  advantage  of  what  the  civilization  of  man- 
kind has  brought. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  define  the  differ- 
ence between  a  pigeon  and  a  dove.  There  is  no 
anatomical  distinction  between  the  two.  A  line 
of  demarcation  does  not  exist.  ^*Dove'^  is  the 
Anglo-Saxon  term  and  ** pigeon'*  the  Norman, 
and  the  latter  bears  the  same  relation  to  the 
former  that  ^^  mutton'*  bears  to  ^*  sheep." 
*^ Pigeon"  has  been  adopted  for  the  domestic 
bird  by  common  usage.  That  is  why  it  is  not 
wrong  to  say  that  the  bird  descended  from  a  rock 
*^dove." 

Darwin  was  the  first  to  suspect  the  wild  species 
as  the  progenitor  of  the  race,  and  he  proceeded 
to  demonstrate  his  theory  in  characteristic 
fashion.    Even  in  the  earliest  recorded  descrip- 


88      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

tions,  the  domesticated  bird  retained  few  or  no 
<jolor  markings  which  migiit  confound  it  with 
its  wild  ancestor,  but  Darwin  was  used  to  obstacles 
of  that  sort  and  did  not  despair  of  obtaining 
proof.  He  first  crossed  a  white  fantail  with  a 
black  barb,  and  another  black  barb  with  a  white 
ibird  with  a  red  spot  on  its  forehead  and  a  red- 
dish tail.  The  offspring  of  these  two  crosses  were 
then  crossed  between  themselves,  and  the  result- 
ing birds  not  only  resembled  rock  doves,  but 
were  rock  doves  so  far  as  any  analyst  could  tell. 
Darwin  had  proved  his  point  and  fixed  the  an- 
cestry of  the  domestic  form. 


Domestic  Breeds 

With  the  average  person  a  mention  of  the  word 
'^pigeon''  is  generally  attended  by  two  reacting 
thoughts:  messages  and  food.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  bird  in  its  present  status  in  civilization 
is  not  a  food  product  of  great  economic  value. 
It  also  has  gone  out  of  fashion  as  a  means  of 
transporting  messages  since  the  invention  of  the 
telegraph,  save  only  in  times  of  war,  when  it  still 
plays  an  important  part.  Its  chief  popularity  is 
now  based  on  performance  as  a  skilful  and  speedy 
flier,  together  with  the  decorative  value  of  its 
fancy  varieties.  Thus  the  missions  of  the 
domestic  pigeon  are,   or  have  been,  four;    (1) 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  89 

decoration,  (2)  the  making  of  sport,  (3)  the  carry- 
ing of  messages,  and  (4)  food. 

Of  the  domestic  varieties  of  olden  times  we 
know  very  little.  None  exist  to-day  in  their  ear- 
liest forms,  for  all  have  been  lost  in  the  pro- 
gression of  fresher  and  more  modern  breeds.  The 
antiquity  of  a  few  of  our  present  breeds,  however, 
does  extend  back  to  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  we  find  the  pouter,  the  fantail,  and 
the  jacobin  apparently  well  established  at  that 
time. 

To-day  there  are  in  existence  about  two  hundred 
different  varieties  of  domesticated  pigeons,  but 
many  are  merely  slight  variants  from  a  more 
staple  central  breed.  Thus,  for  example,  there 
are  a  dozen  or  more  strains  of  fantails  and  many 
more  of  pouters.  Of  the  thirty  or  so  recognized 
central  breeds  the  fantail,  the  owls,  the  Oriental 
frills,  and  certain  of  the  tumblers  originated  in 
the  East.  Africa  produced  the  barb  and  one  or 
two  others  of  minor  value.  From  the  United 
States  came  the  American  high-flier,  and  Europe 
is  responsible  for  a  whole  galaxy  of  breeds.  A 
few  of  the  latter  are  the  Antwerp,  the  dragoon, 
carrier,  turbit,  jacobin,  Cumulet,  nun,  magpie, 
helmet,  the  German  toy-pigeon,  and  the  giant 
runt.  As  may  be  gathered  from  the  above  list 
of  names,  the  appellation  given  to  a  breed 
generally  implies  some  special  ability  of  the  bird. 
The  homer  has  developed  an  instinct  for  homing, 


90      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

the  pouter  pouts,  and  the  tumbler  tumbles. 
Certain  high-fliers  are  tritely  named  tipplers. 

It  is  impossible  to  decipher  the  origin  of  many 
breeds,  so  confused  are  they  with  crossing  and 
re-crossing.  While  several  have  come  up,  so  to 
speak,  from  the  dark  ages,  others  evolved  in  re- 
gions where  we  are  unable  to  find  a  trace  of  their 
ancestry.  Certain  breeds  have  been  created  by 
selection  for  speed  and  homing  ability,  some  for 
the  performance  of  aerial  acrobatics,  and  others 
for  color  combinations  and  strange  body  adorn- 
ment. In  the  last  class  fall  the  fancy  sorts  such 
as  the  hooded  jacobins  of  many  colors,  the  black 
shields,  and  the  fantails.  Show  homers  and 
exhibition  tumblers  are  not  performers  in  the 
air,  but  take  preeminence  in  the  show  pen. 

Pigeons  are  one  of  the  species  particularly 
susceptible  to  artificial  selection,  as  much  so  as 
the  domestic  cock.  Not  only  do  we  find  a  great 
variance  of  color  and  marking  among  them,  but 
a  wide  divergence  in  actual  form  and  character. 
The  fantails,  for  instance,  have  an  enormous, 
fan-like  spread  of  tail,  the  feathers  of  which 
number  from  thirty  to  forty  or  more  instead  of 
the  normal  fourteen,  and  the  bird  is  so  ^^ chesty'* 
that  it  resembles  a  fat  man  beating  a  bass  drum. 
A  great  feathered  hood  curves  forward  over  the 
head  of  the  jacobin  and  hides  the  eyes  and  bill. 
The  Oriental  frills  own,  in  addition  to  frills,  large 
crests  and  complicated  color  patterns.    The  pouter 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  91 

is  able  to  puff  out  the  feathers  of  its  throat 
until  it  seems  as  if  the  bird  had  swallowed  an 
orange.  The  short-faced  tumbler  is  endowed 
with  an  extremely  short  beak  and  a  bulging  fore- 
head. The  legs  of  the  shield  are  heavily  muffled 
in  feathers  which  stick  outward  like  an  extra  pair 
of  wings.  The  runt,  a  utility  breed  and  the  big- 
gest of  all,  sometimes  weighs  two  and  a  half 
pounds.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  results  of 
artificial  selection. 

Again,  returning  to  the  color  of  the  birds,  we 
learn  that  the  *^ standard  colors,"  as  recognized 
by  fanciers,  may  be  white,  black,  dun,  red,  or  yel- 
low. Blue,  silver,  mealy,  and  cream  are  '*off 
colors.''  Checkers^ — ^birds  with  bar  markings — 
may  be  blue,  black,  or  red,  but  never  silver,  dun, 
or  yellow. 


Tumblers 

With  this  short  review  of  what  goes  to  make  a 
**fancy''  bird,  we  shall  pass  on  to  the  more  impor- 
tant ^*  sporting''  breeds  and  those  which  help  make 
sport.  They  are  the  ones  which  attract  most  at- 
tention  in  this  country  and  Europe,  and  may  be 
divided  into  three  general  groups:  (1)  breeds 
selected  for  agile  flying  and  quick  manoeuver  in 
the  air;  (2)  birds  used  for  shooting  (no  particular 
breed) ;  and,  most  important  of  all,   (3)  breeds 


92      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

selected  for  speed  of  wing.  The  first  division  in- 
cludes the  tumblers  and  rollers. 

The  art  of  tumbler  and  roller  flying  has  attained 
its  greatest  perfection  in  England.  Of  late  years, 
however,  it  has  been  much  practised  in  the  United 
States.  Birmingham,  England,  is  the  center  of 
the  sport,  and  from  that  place  have  radiated  most 
of  the  present  performing  breeds.  Birmingham 
contains  a  big  population  of  pigeon-fanciers  and 
their  annual  Christmas  competition  has  a  world- 
wide reputation. 

The  process  of  tumbling  or  rolling  consists  of 
the  turning  of  a  backward  somersault,  or  a  series 
of  them,  by  the  birds  in  mid-air.  This  agility  is 
developed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  throughout 
the  entire  breed.  The  Birmingham  roller  excels 
in  the  art,  being  capable  of  executing  twenty  or 
more  backward  flips  in  succession.  So  swift  are 
the  revolutions  that  the  eye  finds  it  difficult  to 
follow  them.  A  flock  or  kit  of  a  dozen  birds,  fly- 
ing high  and  suddenly  spinning  over  and  over,  is 
not  only  a  startling  sight,  but  the  movement  is 
one  of  extraordinary  grace. 

The  tumbler  tumbles  not  from  any  exuberance 
of  spirits  but  because  there  is  no  help  for  it. 
The  bird  has  been  bred  for  generations  to  tumble. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  waltzing  mouse,  a  defect  of 
the  inner  ear,  or  possibly  of  the  brain,  has  been 
fixed  in  the  breed  by  artificial  selection,  and  there- 
fore   the    individual    is    incapable    at    times    of 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  93 

maintaining  its  equilibrium  in  the  air.  The  bird 
is  actually  a  defective.  Thus,  care  must  be  used 
in  breeding  it,  as  the  bird  may  tumble  too  far  and 
hurt  itself.  Individuals  have  been  known  to  start 
downward  from  a  considerable  height  and  to  con- 
tinue twisting  head  over  heels  until  they  crashed 
to  the  ground.  These  are  known  as  *^ mad-rol- 
lers^^ or  *^ roll-downs,''  and  should  never  again  be 
flown.  The  ideal  tumbler  is  one  which  goes 
through  several  somersaults,  recovers  itself,  and 
lives  to  tumble  again. 

Breeding  these  varieties  is  a  difficult  as  well 
as  fascinating  pastime.  The  most  careful  selection 
is  necessary.  No  mad-rollers  can  be  taken  as  par- 
ent stock  lest  the  offspring  fly  a  short  course  to 
grief.  Patience  on  the  part  of  the  trainer  also  is 
essential.  Once  having  produced  birds  of  con- 
servative tendency,  the  problem  of  the  kitflier 
is  to  teach  his  subjects  to  perform  evenly  and  in 
unison.  Those  which  tumble  out  of  time  with 
the  rest  must  be  eliminated  or  taught  to  perform 
better.  Training  a  kit  takes  both  time -and  per- 
severance, and  when  the  owner  haa  produced  a 
flock  which  meets  full  requirements  he  rightfully 
deserves  all  the  praise  he  can  get,  either  from 
himself  or  his  neighbors. 

4 
Trap-Shooting 
One  of  the  most  popular  sports  in  England  dur- 


94      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ing  the  second  half  of  the  last  century  was  pigeon- 
shooting.  It  also  had  a  firm  foothold  in  the 
United  States  for  the  last  few  years  of  that  period, 
but  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty,  and 
the  invention  of  clay  ^* birds,''  soon  forced  it  into 
the  background.  The  sport  of  breaking  these 
imitation  birds  now  has  far  more  adherents  tlian 
ever  were  attached  to  live  pigeon-shooting.  The 
** birds''  are  merely  concave  disks  of  darkened 
clay  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  certain  tar 
products,  which  gives  them  a  partial  resistance  to 
the  impact  of  fine  bird-shot.  They  are  flung 
swiftly  through  the  air  by  spring  machines  and 
afford  an  excellent  flying  target.  To  break  one 
it  is  necessary  to  strike  it  with  several  pellets  of 
shot. 

Doubtless  live  pigeon-shooting  afforded  much 
diversion  to  the  marksmen,  but  the  same  cannot 
be  said  of  the  victims.  Considerable  variation 
occurred  in  the  methods  employed  by  different 
clubs.  The  most  general  rule,  however,  was  for 
the  shooter  to  stand  in  the  center  of  a  sixty-foot 
ring  of  traps  containing  birds.  Strings  ran 
from  the  traps  to  the  middle  of  the  circle,  and 
a  jerk  served  to  release  the  prisoners.  The 
marksman  was  supposed  to  kill  the  pigeons 
within  a  set  distance  of  the  traps.  Therefore, 
any  wounded  individuals  which  happened  to  fall 
out  of  bounds  were  not  counted  in  the  score. 
Those  which  escaped  were  free  to  roam  at  will 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  95 

and  offer  a  target  to  any  one  who  wished  to  take 
a  pot-shot. 

A  number  of  years  ago  the  author  attended  a 
pigeon  shoot  in  New  Jersey.  A  large  part  of  the 
local  population,  especially  boys,  had  gathered  at 
a  safe  distance  to  view  the  spectacle.  The  coun- 
try was  rugged  in  character,  and  each  inequality 
hid  a  youth,  as  did  each  •  tree-trunk  and  every 
large  boulder  or  post-and-rail  fence.  The  sports- 
men in  the  center  were  ringed  by  a  half-mile  circle 
of  ancient  army  muskets  of  Civil  War  \dntage, 
Flobert  rifles,  and  shot-guns  of  all  types  and  de- 
scriptions, either  single-  or  double-barreled,  muz- 
zle- or  breech-loading.  If  a  pigeon  escaped  from 
the  men  at  the  traps, — and  many  did  escape, — the 
weapons  of  the  callow  multitude  went  into  action. 
The  air  was  continually  alive  with  flying  pellets 
of  lead,  and  the  neighborhood  was  treated  to  a 
noisy  imitation  of  the  Battle  of  San  Juan  Hill. 
Birds  which  happened  to  succumb  to  the  fusillade 
later  found  a  way  into  pigeon-pies;  other  more 
fortunate  individuals  returned  to  their  natal  roosts 
to  be  sold  again  for  the  morrow's  sport.  Such 
was  at  least  one  pigeon  shoot  in  America. 

But  live  pigeon-shooting  is  now  a  dead  sport 
in  the  United  States,  as  it  is  in  most  European 
countries.  In  Monaco  alone  does  it  still  retain 
high  favor,  and  there  it  is  undertaken  more  as' 
a    betting    medium    than    anything    else.    Clay 

birds"  have  elsewhere  taken  its  place,  and  now 


(( 


96      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

trap-shooting  holds   a  higher  rank  in  our  na- 
tional sports  than  ever  before. 


Pigeon  Flying 

Of  all  the  sports,  however,  in  which  both  men 
and  domestic  pigeons  take  part,  pigeon  flying  or 
racing  is  far  in  the  lead.  It  is  a  form  of  recrea- 
tion favorably  regarded  by  the  people  of  all  na- 
tions. There  is  not  a  country  in  Europe  where 
pigeon  flying  does  not  meet  with  approval.  The 
Egyptians,  the  Italians,  the  Turks,  the  French, 
the  British,  and  the  Germans  all  take  part. 

But  it  is  to  Belgium  that  the  world  owes  the  true 
beginnings  of  the  sport  and  its  development  to 
the  present  high  state  of  accomplishment.  The 
Belgians  bred  the  racers  and  are  still  doing  so. 
They  were  the  first  people  to  take  advantage  of 
new  strains  reared  in  other  countries,  and,  by 
crossing  and  selection,  produced  the  celebrated 
Belgian  strain  of  homer  which  has  become  the  ba- 
sis of  all  modem  breeds  of  fliers.  The  recognized 
national  sport  of  Belgium  is  pigeon  flying,  and  the 
flying  homer  is  the  king  of  all  fliers,  its  national 
sporting  product. 

Let  us  be  sure  that  we  understand  what  true 
pigeon  flying  is.  It  may  be  defined  as  racing  with 
pigeons.  It  consists  of  flying  one  bird  against 
another  or  several  over  a  course  of  measured 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  97 

length,  or  the  flying  of  a  bird  against  time.  Time, 
in  other  words,  speed,  is  ever  a  matter  of  the 
greatest  pride  to  the  owner  and  invariably  re- 
ceives the  highest  commendation  from  the  judges, 
not  only  because  the  fastest  bird  wins,  but  because 
its  speed  may  set  a  new  record.  The  pigeon  flier 
is  like  the  owner  of  race-horses.  Many  a  horse 
can  win  a  mile  race,  but  there  are  few  that  can 
cover  the  distance  in  less  than  a  minute  and  forty 
seconds.  Therefore,  the  man  who  produces  a  1 :  38 
horse  has  something  to  be  proud  of  besides  win- 
ning a  pocketful  of  prize-money.  The  race-horse 
runs  its  races  around  an  oval  track.  The  properly 
trained  homing  pigeon,  on  the  other  hand,  flies  in 
an  almost  straight  line  from  the  point  of  liberation 
to  its  loft,  be  it  fifty,  one  hundred,  or  five  hundred 
miles  distant. 

As  has  been  said,  the  sport  took  its  beginning 
in  Belgium.  The  year  of  the  first  organized  race 
was  1818,  and  the  length  of  the  course  one  hundred 
miles.  This  distance  was  gradually  increased  un- 
til in  1875,  when  the  sport  was  first  introduced 
into  the  United  States,  races  of  five  hundred  miles 
were  common  in  Europe. 

In  the  days  before  railroads  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  to  ship  birds  a  long  distance  from  their 
lofts  owing  to  poor  facilities  for  travel,  but  with 
the  coming  of  railway-trains  this  hardship  was 
obviated  and  longer  races  became  possible.  The 
United  States  took  advantage  of  the  railroads, 


98      THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

and  in  1879,  only  four  years  after  the  introduction 
of  the  first  flying  strains,  the  initial  500-mile 
course  was  flown  in  this  country,  from  Dayton, 
Ohio,  to  Philadelphia.  Seven  long  flights  were 
made  the  same  year,  and  with  each  successive 
year  the  number  increased. 

It  had  always  been  the  ambition  of  breeders 
to  produce  birds  capable  of  covering  the  500-mile 
distance  in  a  single  non-stop  flight  of  one  day. 
Hitherto  the  course  had  consumed  two  or  several 
days,  a  flying  day  being  measured  from  an  hour 
before  sunrise  to  an  hour  after  sundown.  At  last, 
in  1885,  the  breeders  reached  the  goal  of  their  de- 
sires. **Ned  Damon,''  a  pigeon  owned  in  Brook- 
lyn, flew  from  Abingdon,  Virginia,  508  miles  in 
fourteen  hours  and  twenty-five  minutes  at  an  aver- 
age speed  of  1033.62  yards  a  minute.  From  that 
time  to  the  present  many  birds  have  covered  the 
distance  in  non-stop  flight,  and  in  1898  a  pigeon 
from  Buffalo  attained  the  remarkable  speed  of 
1608.4  yards  for  the  distance — not  far  from  a 
mile  a  minute !  In  the  same  year  four  birds  flew 
seven  hundred  miles  in  a  single  day  at  a  speed  of 
1546.97  yards  a  minute !  Thus  far  the  1000-mile 
course  has  never  been  covered  in  a  single  flight, 
although  ^* Bullet,''  who  holds  the  world's  record, 
accomplished  it  in  one  day  and  eleven  hours, 
daylight  flying.^     The  greatest  distance  traversed 

1  Homing  pigeons  fly  only  in  daylight  and  roost  at  night 
wherever  they  happen  to  find  themselves. 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  99 

by  any  trained  homer  is  reputed  to  be  from  Denver 
to  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  or  1689.44  miles. 
About  a  month  was  consumed  by  the  bird  in  com- 
pleting the  journey. 

Mention  of  the  above  records  at  once  brings  up 
a  question  which  has  long  lurked  in  the  back  of 
our  minds.  How  fast  can  birds  fly?  Authentic 
information  on  this  question  is  meager  indeed. 
Speed  of  birds  has  long  formed  a  subject  for 
heated  discussion,  especially  among  sportsmen, 
and  we  have  often  heard  that  some  wild  ducks 
attain  the  remarkable  velocity  of  150  and  even 
200  miles  an  hour!  Such,  apparently,  is  not  the 
case.  The  fastest  recorded  time  for  ducks  is 
ninety  miles  as  determined  by  telegraph  from 
point  to  point.  The  English  partridge,  also  a 
fast  moving  target,  has  been  measured  as  doing 
only  28.4  miles  an  hour.  It  is  seldom  that  a 
barn-swallow  or  a  chimney-swift  passes  a  train 
traveling  forty  miles  an  hour.  The  average  rate 
for  homing  pigeons  does  not  much  exceed  that 
speed,  but  that  is  only  the  average.  Some  homers 
are  swifter  than  others.  Flights  by  pigeons  of 
a  mile  a  minute  are  yearly  becoming  more  com- 
mon, and  one  bird  has  flown  one  hundred  miles  at 
the  truly  phenomenal  rate  of  2511.87  yards,  or 
virtually  a  mile  and  a  half  a  minute ! 

Homing  pigeons  are  bred  for  speed  and  hom- 
ing instinct.  That  a  bird  can  successfully  undergo 
artificial  selection  for  an  instinct  sounds  strange, 


100    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

but  a  glance  at  the  progression  of  distances  tra- 
versed through  the  medium  of  that  instinct  shows 
it  to  be  an  accomplished  fact.  From  a  few  hun- 
dred miles,  the  birds  have  been  bred  in  a  single 
century  to  find  their  way  over  a  stretch  of  nearly 
seventeen  hundred.  The  instinct  to  return 
straight  home  to  their  cote,  be  it  a  thousand  miles 
off,  had,  in  1918,  a  much*  firmer  grip  on  the  bird 
than  it  had  in  1818.  This  homing  ability  is  of 
course  the  all-important  factor  in  ^*  flying. '^  The 
breeder,  therefore,  uses  as  parents  of  his  flock 
only  those  birds  which  have  flown  fast  and  homed 
from  afar. 

The  pigeon-loft  should  be  large  and  roomy,  and 
it  must  be  fitted  with  a  trap-door  leading  to  the 
outside.  This  is  contrived  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  bird  may  freely  enter,  but  finds  its  exit  barred. 
Training  is  begun  when  the  youngsters  are 
about  three  months  old.  Their  first  flight  is  from 
a  place  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  loft.  The 
next  course  is  one  mile,  then  two  miles,  and  by 
easy  stages  up  to  fifty  miles.  Once  assured  that 
the  birds  will  cover  this  distance  without  getting 
lost,  the  trainer  increases  it  to  seventy-five  and 
then  to  a  hundred  miles,  and  so  on  until  the  maxi- 
mum distance  required  is  reached.  Young  individ- 
uals, as  a  rule,  are  seldom  flown  over  courses  of 
more  than  300  miles,  but  birds  of  the  year  have 
covered  the  1000-mile  distance. 

During  transportation  from  the  loft  the  con- 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  101 

testants  are  carried  in  closed  wicker  baskets.  It 
should  be  understood  that  the  birds  do  not  return 
to  the  place  where  they  are  ^^ tossed''  but  to  their 
lofts  many  miles  away.  The  exact  time  of  libera- 
tion is  taken  by  specially  constructed  clocks,  as 
is  the  time  of  arrival  at  the  home  loft.  This 
arrival  home  does  not  mean  a  perch  on  the  peak 
of  the  loft  roof,  but  the  absolute  second  the  pig- 
eon passes  through  the  trap-door.  Thus,  con- 
siderable patience  is  entailed  on  the  part  of  the 
trainer  to  teach  the  birds  to  drop  directly  to  the 
platform  in  front  of  the  door  and  to  push  through. 
When  the  time  at  the  loft  and  the  time  at  the 
place  of  tossing  are  compared  the  difference 
shows  the  time  of  flight.  The  distance  covered 
is  reduced  from  miles  to  yards  and  the  result 
divided  by  the  number  of  minutes,  the  speed  of 
flight  thus  being  obtained  in  yards  to  the  minute. 


Pigeons  as  Messengers 

Although  as  message  carriers  pigeons  were 
used  by  the  ancients,  it  was  not  until  the  Belgians 
developed  racing  strains  that  the  **  pigeon  post'^ 
was  seriously  taken  up  by  the  governments  of 
Europe.  Up  to  that  time  almost  any  home-flying 
breed  would  do,  and  as  a  consequence  many  impor- 
tant despatches  went  astray.  But  the  day  came 
when  the  birds  officially  received  recognition,  and 


102    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

then  began  the  selection  which  has  continued  until 
to-day.  As  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  we  find  a  well-organized  pigeon 
postal  service  established  by  the  Dutch  in  Java 
and  Sumatra.  Inunediately  after  that  period  and 
continuing  until  the  advent  of  the  telegraph  killed 
it,  the  pigeon  post  found  general  favor  throughout 
Europe. 

In  those  days  as  now,  the  desired  message  was 
written  on  a  thin  sheet  of  paper,  which  was  then 
rolled  up  and  thrust  into  an  empty  quill.  This  in 
turn  was  secured  to  a  central  tail-feather  of  the 
pigeon,  and  the  bird  was  permitted  to  proceed  on 
its  way.  The  method  now  in  vogue  varies  con- 
siderably from  this.  The  message  is  placed  in 
a  metal  cylinder  which  is  fastened  to  the  leg  of 
the  bird  by  two  flexible  aluminum  bands.  The  cyl- 
inder is  of  aluminum,  about  one  and  a  quarter 
inches  long  and  three  eighths  of  an  inch  in  dia- 
meter. Paper  of  great  lightness  is  employed,  so 
that  messages  of  considerable  length  may  be  sent. 

The  telegram  proved  a  damper  to  the  pigeon 
post,  and  the  birds  fell  into  disfavor  as  message 
carriers.  Then  came  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
and  the  siege  of  Paris.  That  city  was  for  several 
months  cut  off  from  ordinary  means  of  communica- 
tion with  the  outside  world.  It  was  invested  by 
a  wall  of  glittering  German  steel.  Well  nigh 
every  attempt  to  send  out  a  message  was  frus- 
trated by  the  capture  of  the  courier.    There  re- 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  loa 

mained,  however,  the  pigeon;  and  once  more  the 
birds  came  into  their  own.  By  the  day  the  actual 
siege  had  begun,  the  military  authorities  within 
the  city  had  exchanged  numbers  of  pigeons  for 
others  from  outlying  districts.  They  had  re- 
organized the  long  forgotten  and  wholly  defunct 
pigeon  post. 

Thousands  of  despatches  were  delivered  and 
received  during  that  siege.  The  letters  at  first 
were  inscribed  on  ordinary  paper  and  photo- 
graphically reduced  to  thinner  sheets.  Later 
they  were  printed  in  common  type  and  micro- 
photographed  on  filmy  sheets  of  collodion.  So 
light  were  these  films  that  50,000  despatches  could 
be  sent  by  one  pigeon.^  Upon  arriving  at  their 
destination  the  films  were  projected  upon  a 
screen  and  the  message,  thus  enlarged,  was  copied 
off.  Later  still,  a  sensitized  screen  was  used  and 
the  message  was  developed  directly  upon  it. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Germans  were 
entirely  unaware  of  this  system  of  transmitting 
news  from  the  beleaguered  city,  or  that  they  took 
no  precautions  against  it.  As  they  knew  that  the 
birds  could  be  flown  only  in  daylight,  expert  shots 
were  stationed  on  all  high  ground  and  in  tree- 
tops  over  which  the  pigeons  might  fly.  What  the 
toll  taken  by  these  men  amounted  to  history  fails 
to  state.  But  it  does  say  that  the  Prussians  went 
so  far  as  to  train  hawks  to  capture  the  pigeons, 

1  "Encyclopaedia    Britannica" ;    article    on    "Pigeon-Post." 


1Q4     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

though  even  their  own  historians  admit  it  was  a 
useless  expenditure  of  time  and  energy. 

After  the  close  of  that  war  the  pigeon  service 
I)ecame  a  recognized  element  in  the  French  mili- 
tary establishment  and  lofts  were  maintained  in 
all  fortresses.  Other  European  countries  stocked 
their  forts  with  birds,  but,  aside  from  this,  pig- 
eons as  messengers  again  fell  into  disuse  through- 
out the  world.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  World 
War,  however,  they  once  more  were  utilized. 

In  1914  the  French  army  reorganized  the  pig- 
eon service  and  greatly  widened  its  scope  for 
actual  work  in  the  field.  England,  though  she 
had  employed  the  birds  with  success  in  the  South 
African  War  of  1899-1902,  was  slower  to  rec- 
ognize their  value,  and  it  was  not  until  the  spring 
of  1916  that  her  armies  in  France  received  the 
first  birds  from  home.  But,  from  that  time  on, 
her  pigeon  service  at  the  front  grew  until  it  stood 
on  an  even  footing  with  that  of  the  French  and 
the  Belgians.  When  the  United  States  joined 
forces  with  the  allies,  she  had  no  such  arm  in  her 
service,  but  upon  going  into  action  she  quickly 
realized  the  necessity  for  one.  Pigeon  flying  at 
that  time  was  popular  in  America.  At  the  out- 
break of  hostilities  thousands  of  birds,  trained  by 
private  owners,  were  on  hand.  A  pigeon  service 
was  hastily  organized,  and  great  numbers  of  birds 
were  shipped  to  France,  where  their  progeny  saw 
service  on  the  front  lines. 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  105 

The  pigeon  corps  of  the  American  army  was 
modeled  more  or  less  after  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish. Permanent  lofts  were  constructed  behind 
the  lines  not  far  from  the  front,  and,  in  addition, 
there  was  a  corps  of  mobile  lofts  capable  of  fol- 
lowing close  at  the  heels  of  the  army.  Approxi- 
mately 200  birds  were  apportioned  to  each  loft, 
and  after  a  short  period  of  training  they  were 
ready  for  work.  Each  loft  was  in  charge  of  a 
non-commissioned  oflScer  who  saw  to  it  that  the 
birds  were  sent  forward  to  the  men  in  line  and 
whose  duty  it  was  to  transmit  despatches  taken 
from  homing  birds  to  headquarters. 

Each  day  a  man  was  sent  forward  from  the  loft 
to  the  front  line.  His  conveyance  was  a  motor- 
cycle to  which  was  secured  a  large  basket,  suffi- 
cient to  hold  as  many  as  seventy  or  eighty  birds. 
His  journey  to  the  front  was  made  in  somewhat 
the  following  manner:  first  to  an  aviation  field 
to  leave  a  dozen  birds;  then  to  brigade  head- 
quarters of  the  artillery  of  that  sector,  or  the 
various  battalion  headquarters;  and  finally  to 
regimental  or  battalion  headquarters  of  the  in- 
fantry where  the  remainder  of  his  cargo  was  dis- 
posed of.  At  this  last  place  the  pigeons  were 
distributed  to  the  different  companies,  two  birds 
to  each;  and  the  courier  returned  to  the  loft  to 
await  developments. 

It  was  a  hard  service  for  both  pigeons  and 
men,  but  war  is  severe  on  everything  and  every 


106    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

one.  The  birds  were  trained  to  trap  at  once  upon 
returning  to  the  loft  in  order  that  their  messages 
might  immediately  be  taken.  Woe  betide  the  pig- 
eon who,  while  an  important  infantry  action  was 
under  way,  failed  to  respond  to  its  training.  If 
it  should  fail  to  trap,  if  it  perched  on  the  roof 
of  the  loft  or  the  top  of  a  building,  a  shot-gun  was 
leveled  and  the  bird  was  blasted  to  eternity.  War 
is  cruel,  and  despatches  are  valuable. 

Pigeons  quickly  became  accustomed  to  the 
sound  and  concussion  of  gun-fire  and  flew  with- 
out hesitation  through  the  heaviest  barrage. 
Their  greatest  value  to  the  soldier  came  at  the 
time  when  the  infantry  had  *^  jumped  off^^  to  an 
attack.  An  advance  party  might  be  cut  off  from 
communication  with  the  rear  by  enemy  fire. 
Telephone  wires  might  be  severed  and  the  run- 
ners killed.  At  such  times  pigeons  formed  the 
only  connecting  link  with  the  main  force.  In 
this  manner  did  the  famous  *^Lost  Battalion," 
which  in  reality  was  not  lost  at  all,  send  back  the 
coordinates  of  its  position  to  the  higher  command. 

In  a  similar  manner  the  French  commander  of 
Douaumont,  at  Verdun,  when  the  fort  was  cut 
off,  communicated  the  news  to  his  general  that 
lie  still  held  out  and  would  continue  to  do  so  until 
the  last  man  fell.  He  made  good  his  word,  and 
when  Douaumont  did  fall  to  vastly  superior 
forces  its  resistance  had  blocked  the  main  Ger- 
man attack  for  so  long  that  Verdun  was  saved. 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  107 

The  pigeon  which  flew  through  that  hell  of  fire, 
which  no  human  being  could  stem,  received  the 
Croix  de  Guerre  and  the  everlasting  blessing  of 
the  French  nation. 

But  war  pigeons  did  not  always  pass  through 
gun-fire  unscathed.  A  member  of  the  American 
pigeon  service  once  informed  the  writer  that  a 
bird  returned  to  his  loft  in  the  Toul  sector  with 
a  broken  leg  and  a  deep  two-inch  gash  in  its  side. 
Another  bird,  belonging  to  the  British  service, 
*^was  struck  by  a  German  bullet  which  broke  one 
of  its  legs,  denuding  the  bone  ...  of  all  flesh,  and 
drove  the  metal  cylinder  containing  the  message 
into  the  side  of  its  body,  the  bullet  passing  out  of 
its  back.  In  spite  of  its  wounds,  and  although 
out  in  the  wet  all  night,  the  bird  struggled  home 
to  its  loft,  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  and  delivered 
its  message.  ^^^  Surely,  that  pigeon  had  earned 
the  V.  C. ! 

The  Germans  had  the  advantage  over  the  allies 
in  reference  to  army  pigeons.  The  whole  of  Bel- 
gium was  theirs  to  draw  upon.  At  least  a  million 
birds  are  known  to  have  been  commandeered  from 
that  country  during  the  war.  Some  of  those  very 
carriers  were  captured  by  the  American  forces 
during  one  of  our  drives  and,  as  the  pigeon  lofts 
were  then  behind  our  own  lines,  performed  ex- 
cellent service  for  us. 

Although  homing  pigeons,  if  left  to  themselves, 

1  Gladstone,  "Birds  and  the  War/' 


108    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

only  fly  by  daylight,  the  French  attempted,  with 
some  success,  to  breed  night  fliers.  The  squabs, 
from  the  moment  of  hatching,  were  kept  in  dark- 
ened lofts  and  fed  by  the  light  of  red  lamps. 
When  the  birds  became  old  enough  to  fly  they 
were  permitted  to  leave  their  quarters  at  night 
and  underwent  a  systematic  training  of  homing 
to  a  red  light. 

This  system  worked  with  fair  results,  but  the 
homing  of  the  birds  was  an  uncertain  quantity. 
Any  red  light  would  attract  them,  and,  owing  to 
eye  weakness  and  disease,  they  were  far  shorter 
lived  than  daylight  birds.  Night  flying  was  not 
attempted  in  the  American  army  during  the  war, 
though  preparations  were  being  made  for  it  when 
the  armistice  came.  Since  that  time,  however, 
successful  experiments  have  been  made  in  that 
direction  by  the  section  of  the  United  States  pi- 
geon service  stationed  at  Panama.  Distances  of 
forty  miles  have  been  attained  by  night-flying 
homers. 

Certainly  not  the  least  important  part  pigeons 
took  during  the  war  was  their  help  to  the  aviation 
corps.  They  became  a  recognized  unit  of  equip- 
ment for  aeroplanes  in  many  branches  of  that 
service.  In  order  to  release  a  bird  the  machine 
was  slowed  down  and  the  bird  was  tossed  back- 
ward toward  the  tail  of  the  craft  to  prevent  its 
fouling  the  propeller.  Numerous  messages  were 
sent  in  this  fashion,  and  there  were  many  instances 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  109 

in  which  the  pigeons  carried  word  of  planes  in 
distress.  For  example,  a  large  British  machine 
was  brought  down  in  the  North  Sea  fifty  miles 
from  shore,  where  it  drifted  helpless  for  several 
days.  The  commander  had  four  pigeons,  one  of 
which  he  released  each  day  until  all  were  gone. 
The  last  bird,  starved  by  four  days  *  lack  of  food, 
set  off  through  a  fog  and  finally  succeeded  in 
reaching  land.  It  fluttered  down  to  a  coast- 
guard station,  and  there,  with  its  message  still  at- 
tached to  its  leg,  fell  dead  from  exhaustion.  The 
six  men  on  the  wrecked  plane  were  saved. 


Pigeons  as  Food 

Although  it  would  be  possible  to  recount  a  score 
of  tales  such  as  the  one  just  related,  there  is  no 
space  left  to  do  so.  We  must  therefore  turn  to 
the  fourth  province  of  the  pigeon,  its  economic 
place  as  food.  The  pigeon  doubtless  has  always 
been  eaten  by  epicures,  ever  since  its  first  domesti- 
cation,  but  never  did  it  attain  the  same  popularity 
as  poultry.  It  is  found,  nevertheless,  in  all  our 
markets  to-day  and  therefore  holds  a  certain 
status  as  a  food  product. 

The  reasons  for  the  lack  of  popularity  of  the 
pigeon  as  a  market  product  are  not  difficult  to 
decipher.  The  flesh  of  an  adult  bird  is  inclined 
to  be  tough;  owing  to  the  unreliability,  then,  of 


110    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

the  consistency  of  its  flesh,  the  bird  cannot  com- 
mand a  price  sufficient  to  pay  the  cost  of  up- 
bringing. One  would  think  that  it  might  in  some 
measure  have  taken  the  place  of  small  game-birds 
in  the  market,  but  this  has  not  proved  the  case. 
More  pigeons  were  produced  in  the  United  States 
in  1910,  while  game-birds  were  still  being  sold, 
than  in  1920.  That  toughness  cannot  be  over- 
come. 

The  story  of  the  squab,  however,  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent. Its  flesh  is  quite  as  tender  and  delicious 
as  any  epicure  could  desire.  Unfortunately  the 
rearing  of  squabs  has  drawbacks  which  preclude 
them  from  ever  becoming  an  important  market 
bird.  On  paper  the  raising  of  squabs  is  more  lu- 
crative than  most  businesses.  One  pair  of  birds 
theoretically  should  produce  from  seven  to  ten 
pairs  of  young  per  annum.  The  market  price 
varies  from  twenty-five  cents  for  culls  to  at  least 
a  dollar  apiece  for  the  best  birds. 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  ourselves  are  going  into 
the  business.  Instead  of  ten  we  shall  figure  upon 
eight  pairs  of  squabs  a  year  to  every  pair  of 
breeders.  They  are  to  be  sold  at  only  seventy- 
five  cents  a  pair,  making  a  gross  return  of  six 
dollars  from  our  breeders.  The  average  cost  of 
feed  and  loft  care  can  be  put  at  one  dollar  and  a 
half.  The  result  is  $4.50  net  profit  a  year  from  one 
pair  of  old  birds!  A  thousand  pairs  should  net 
the  comfortable  income  of  $4500 — on  paper. 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  111 

Be  that  as  it  may.  Although  an  untold  numher 
of  failures  have  occurred  in  the  squab  business, 
some  people  have  made  good.  It  may  be  that  the 
breeder  owns  the  proper  housing  facilities  for  his 
birds;  he  may  have  the  nests  arranged  in  the 
order  that  they  should  properly  be  in;  he  may 
have  a  ready  market  near  by;  he  may  feed  the 
squabs  by  correct  formula;  he  may  have  the  pa- 
tience of  Job;  but  success  will  be  lacking  unless 
he  has  the  knack  of  producing  squabs.  This  abil- 
ity is  something  that  all  the  books  and  all  the 
formulae  in  the  world  cannot  teach  a  man;  it 
must  be  born  a  part  of  him.  And  when  the 
breeder  does  have  the  gift,  he  lives  ''happy  ever 
after.'' 

Squabs  are  reared  in  well-ventilated,  vermin- 
proof  lofts  and  placed  on  the  market  generally 
when  four  weeks  old.  The  mother  bird  lays  two 
eggs,  and  when  the  nestlings  are  about  three  weeks 
of  age  she  deposits  two  more  in  a  near-by  nest. 
She  incubates  the  second  clutch  while  the  male 
completes  the  rearing  of  the  squabs.  For  the 
first  five  or  six  days  after  hatching,  their  sole 
food  consists  of  ''pigeon  milk,''  a  soft  milky 
substance  formed  in  the  crops  of  the  old  birds 
and  regurgitated  into  the  mouths  of  the  young. 
On  the  fifth  or  sixth  day  the  youngsters  begin 
eating  grain  and,  with  the  addition  of  their 
"milk,"  continue  to  do  so  until  they  are  fit  for 
the  market. 


112    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Upon  being  dressed  for  shipment,  the  sqiial;>s 
are  graded  according  to  weight,  at  so  many 
pounds  a  dozen.  Those  that  weigh  a  pound 
apiece  are  known  as  ^* jumbos''  and  fetch  the 
highest  price.  Any  birds  below  eight  pounds  a 
dozen  are  culls,  and  little  profit  can  be  derived 
from  them. 

The  breeder  naturally  selects  strains  of  good 
flesh-  and  bone-producing  birds.  The  best  of 
these  are  the  American  Antwerps  or  homers, 
being  prolific,  of  good  size,  and  gentle  breeders. 
Other  excellent  varieties  are  the  white  Grerman 
homer,  the  Belgian  homer,  the  dragoon,  the 
Dutchesse,  and  the  runt,  ranking  in  the  order 
named.  Because  light-colored  squabs  bring  the 
highest  prices  a  cross  between  the  white  German 
and  the  American  Antwerp  makes  an  ideal  market 
bird.  The  young  of  the  dragoon  are  larger  birds, 
but  they  take  five  weeks  to  rear,  instead  of  four. 
The  runt  is  the  largest  of  all,  a  veritable  giant, 
but  seldom  produces  more  than  four  pairs  of 
young  a  year. 

The  production  of  squabs  reached  its  zenith  in 
the  United  States  just  before  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  in  Europe.  The  trade  is  a  local  one  and 
the  birds  must  be  reared  near  their  market.  A 
sale  direct  from  the  breeder  to  the  consumer  is  the 
one  most  sought  for,  and  apparently  it  is  the 
only  means  by  which  the  grower  can  be  assured 
a  profit.    Before  the  World  War,  however,  con- 


DOMESTIC  PIGEONS  113 

ditions  were  more  favorable.  The  breeders  then 
dealt  with  the  wholesale  market  much  more  than 
they  do  now.  One  small  country  village  in  New 
Jersey  sent  86,000  squabs  to  the  market  in  one 
year.  A  single  grower  in  the  same  county 
shipped  nearly  25,000  that  season.  Those  birds 
alone  were  worth  $50,000;  but  a  few  years  later, 
in  1920,  all  the  farms  combined  in  the  United 
States  owned  pigeons  to  the  value  of  only  ten 
times  that  sum.  Squab  raising  has  not  proved 
profitable. 


CHAPTER  VI 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT 


1.  The  History  of  Falconry.  2.  Types  of  Hawks.  3.  The  Train- 
ing of  the  Hawks  and  Their  Work  in  the  Field.  4.  Their 
Food.     5.  Modern  Falconry.     6.  Fishing  with  Birds. 


The  History  of  Falconry 

The  art  of  hunting  with  specially  trained  hawks 
is  about  as  ancient  as  written  history.  It  is  only 
now,  after  a  lapse  of  thousands  of  years  in  which 
the  sport  prospered,  that  we  find  it  drifting  to- 
ward an  eclipse  in  civilized  countries. 

In  the  far-off  days,  when  game  was  plenty  and 
the  means  of  securing  it  few,  men  were  forced 
to  depend  largely  upon  their  bows  and  spears 
for  food.  Arrows  were  both  expensive  and  diffi- 
cult to  make.  While  they  did  very  well  for  large 
animals,  a  small  bird  was  scarcely  worth  the  ex- 
penditure of  one,  and  spears  proved  ineffective. 
Yet  small  birds  were  delicious  food,  titbits  highly 
prized  when  they  could  be  obtained.  Men  there- 
fore set  their  intelligence  to  work.  They  devised 
snares,  invented  bird-nets,  and  finally  turned  to 
birds  of  prey  to  do  their  killing  for  them.     Later 

114 


BIEDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         115 

men  taught  certain  sea  birds  to  fish  for  them. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  man — or  boy 
— ^first  undertook  to  employ  birds  of  prey  for  his 
own  personal  profit.  He  was  a  man  of  the  open 
plains,  one  initiated  into  the  habits  of  wild  hawks. 
Month  after  month  and  season  after  season  he 
had  watched  the  falcons  strike  at  their  quarry 
high  up  in  the  heavens  and  had  observed  the  baser 
goshawks  swoop  and  twist  in  savage  pursuit  of 
low-flying  victims.  As  he  was  possessed  of  im- 
agination, the  idea  gradually  grew  in  his  brain 
that  one  of  those  very  hawks  might  be  tamed  and 
properly  trained  to  capture  quarry  for  its  mas- 
ter. Without  much  trouble  he  snared  a  hawk, 
gentled  it,  and  put  his  ideas  to  the  test.  Success 
attended  his  efforts — and  a  new  means  for  ob- 
taining food  had  been  discovered.  In  some  such 
way  falconry  doubtless  first  had  its  beginning. 

As  far  back  as  2000  b.  c.  we  learn  that  hawks 
were  utilized  for  taking  game  in  China.  Three 
hundred  years  later — and  possibly  before,  though 
the  records  fail  to  show  proof — the  sport  had  be- 
come established  in  Persia.  Some  falconers  of 
India,  where  hawking  was  introduced  a  short  time 
later,  firmly  believe  that  Persia  was  indeed  its 
home.  Such  a  supposition  is  quite  reasonable; 
the  sport — or  art — might  easily  have  had  a  si- 
multaneous origin  in  different  parts  of  the  earth. 

Although  falconry  was  at  first  utilized  as  a 
means  for  capturing  food  it  soon  lost  its  purely 


116    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

utilitarian  phase.  It  was  too  fascinating  a  game 
to  be  played  only  by  pot-hunters.  The  Egyptians 
of  the  middle  dynasties  were  inordinately  fond 
of  it.  They  hailed  it  as  a  sport  for  recreation 
hours,  though  one  highly  advantageous  to  the 
larder.  From  Egypt  it  spread  to  Greece  and 
later  to  Rome. 

The  half-civilized  tribes  of  Europe  accepted 
falconry  in  the  same  manner  that  China  had  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before.  It  was  merely  a 
new  means  of  procuring  meat,  and  apparently  it 
remained  on  that  footing  for  several  centuries. 
The  employment  of  it  as  a  sport  did  not  come  into 
vogue  until  the  time  of  the  first  crusades  and 
probably  was  derived  directly  from  the  Saracens, 
who  had  already  followed  it  for  centuries.  At 
any  rate,  the  first  great  boom  of  falconry  in  Italy 
and  France  broke  out  in  the  ninth  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  In  England  all  men,  be  they  serf 
or  thane,  had  enjoyed  its  thrills  and  spoils,  but 
with  the  arrival  of  the  Normans  it  became  a  **  no- 
ble'' sport.  Henceforth  the  high  social  status 
of  falconry  was  fixed  throughout  Europe.  Only 
the  nobility  could  fly  the  best  birds,  and  as  a  sport 
it  ranked  on  an  even  footing  with  stag  hunting. 
Centuries  passed  and  its  popularity  waxed  rather 
than  decreased.  Then,  one  sorry  day,  gunpowder 
and  the  fowling-piece  appeared.  The  ** kingly'' 
sport  waned  into  obscurity  until  now  it  has  only 
a  few  followers  in  Europe. 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         117 


Types  of  Hawks 

Before  entering  into  a  discussion  of  hawking 
as  practised  in  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
and,  for  that  matter,  to  a  small  extent  to-day,  a 
more  detailed  description  of  the  proper  kinds  of 
hawks  should  be  given.  Three  well-defined,  an- 
atomically differentiated  groups  of  raptorial 
birds  are  employed:  the  long- winged  falcons,  the 
short-winged  hawks,  and  the  eagles.  Of  these  the 
last  never  reached  great  popularity  in  Europe, 
a  fact  not  only  due  to  the  native  sluggishness  of 
the  birds  while  on  the  wing,  but  because  emperors, 
according  to  feudal  practices,  were  the  only  per- 
sons permitted  to  fly  them.  Eagles,  however, 
have  attained  a  certain  prominence  among  many 
present-day  Asiatic  tribes.  Nevertheless,  we 
shall  confine  ourselves  for  the  moment  to  those 
hawks  which  have  played  such  a  great  part  in 
the  past  history  of  both  England  and  France. 

First  in  order  of  virtue  come  the  falcons,  the 
long-winged  group,  including  gerfalcons,  pere- 
grines, sakers,  merlins,  and  kestrels.  Gerfalcons 
inhabit  Scandinavia,  Siberia,  Iceland,  Greenland, 
the  northern  United  States,  Canada,  and  the  arctic 
regions.  Peregrines  are  spread  largely  over  the 
entire  world,  the  duck-hawk  being  the  American 
representative  of  these  birds  so  famous  in  medie- 
val history.     Sakers  are  subtropical  or  tropical 


118    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

forms  of  the  peregrine.  The  merlin  is  repre- 
sented in  America  by  the  pigeon-hawk;  so  alike 
are  the  two  birds  that  an  ornithologist  can  scarcely 
tell  them  apart.  Kestrels  also  have  a  world- 
wide distribution,  the  American  sparrow-hawk 
being  qnite  similar  to  the  kestrel  of  falconry. 

Useless  as  a  bird-catcher  and  lacking  the  dash 
and  courage  so  necessary  for  taking  game  on  the 
wing,  the  last  named  species,  alone  of  all  European 
falcons,  is  of  small  value  to  the  falconer.  In  the 
wild  state  the  natural  food  of  the  kestrel  consists 
of  grasshoppers  and  field-mice ;  any  bird  which  it 
by  chance  captures  is  taken  only  by  stealth.  All 
other  falcons,  except  to  some  extent  the  hobby, — 
a  bird  not  mentioned  above  because  so  closely  re- 
lated to  the  kestrel, — are  diametrically  opposite 
in  character.  Meat  is  their  food — meat  obtained 
by  capturing  their  warm-blooded  quarry  alive. 
To  them  belong  all  the  dash,  the  grace,  and  the 
swiftness  for  which  hawks  are  noted.  They  com- 
mand the  air  with  their  superior  flight.  Mount- 
ing sufficiently  high,  they  poise  above  their  vic- 
tims, then  drop  with  swishing  wings  and  strike 
with  savage  talons.  When  falcons  are  properly 
trained,  they  hurl  themselves  at  the  appointed 
quarry  regardless  alike  of  its  size,  fierceness,  or 
wicked  bill.  They  have  no  fear  for  their  own 
safety.  Again  and  again  will  they  return  to  the 
encounter  until  the  enemy  is  driven  to  earth,  de- 
feated and  dying,  or  they  have  succumbed  to  their 


•  BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         119 

own  prowess.  They  are  courageous,  dauntless. 
Falcons  were  the  birds  of  kings. 

Although  the  short-winged  hawks  lack  the  grace 
and  perhaps  the  speed  of  falcons,  they  make  up 
for  the  loss  by  fierceness  of  attack.  Their  mode 
of  accomplishing  this  is  most  businesslike.  No 
time  is  wasted  circling  above  the  quarry.  They 
dart  from  their  perch  directly  at  their  victim, 
literally  fling  themselves  upon  it,  or  give  stern 
chase.  The  onslaught  is  less  spectacular  than 
that  of  the  falcons  but  is  highly  productive  of  re- 
sult. Unlike  the  long-winged  species,  they  do  not 
hesitate  to  plunge  headlong  into  a  thicket  or 
wooded  copse  in  the  pursuit.  There  are  no 
** stoops,''  startling  recoveries,  or  graceful  evolu- 
tions— only  an  exhibition  of  clever  aerial  dodging, 
and  all  the  thrills  attendant  upon  a  straightaway 
race.  These  are  the  true  game-getters,  the  hawks 
of  the  pot-hunters. 

As  indicated  by  their  name,  the  wings  of  the 
short- winged  hawks  are  shorter  and  more  rounded 
than  those  of  the  falcons.  These  birds  belong 
to  a  separate  group  of  the  great  hawk  family, 
known  as  the  Accipitrince.  Included  among 
them  are  the  goshawks  and  true  sparrow-hawks. 
The  former,  like  the  peregrines,  have  a  world- 
wide distribution.  The  American  goshawk  is 
closely  allied  to  the  form  inhabiting  Europe. 
Sparrow-hawks  also  are  found  nearly  every- 
where, the  Cooper's  hawk  and  the  sharp-shin  be- 


120    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ing  two  American  species.  The  latter  is  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  differentiate  from  the  European 
form ;  both  own  long  tails,  long  shanks,  and  quite 
similar  markings.  The  sharp-shin,  however,  is 
slightly  smaller  than  the  sparrow-hawk. 


The  Training  of  the  Hawks  and  Their  Work 
in  the  Field 

In  the  training  of  hawks  the  falconer  has  to 
deal  with  four  types  of  birds,  the  eyess,  brancher, 
passage,  and  haggard.  The  first  is  a  youngster 
taken  from  the  nest.  Branchers  are  young  birds 
taken  in  the  vicinity  of  their  nest  but  old  enough  to 
fly.  Passage  hawks  are  birds  of  the  year  trapped 
during  the  migration  season.  Haggards  are  wild 
birds  more  than  two  years  old.  These  names 
apply  to  both  long-and  short-winged  hawks ;  thus 
there  may  be  eyess  goshawks  and  eyess  pere- 
grines. 

Immediately  upon  being  captured,  regardless  of 
whether  the  bird  be  eyess  or  passage  hawk,  the 
falconer  secures  a  pair  of  ^* jesses"  to  its  legs. 
The  jesses  are  short  leather  thongs  so  secured  to 
each  shank  that,  while  not  interfering  with  the 
blood  circulation,  they  cannot  be  withdrawn  over 
the  foot.  These  are  never  removed  so  long  as  the 
bird  lives,  and  later  in  its  training  mil  serve  to 
hold  the  short  leash.    If  the  hawk  happens  to  be 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         121 

a  freshly  caught  adult,  the  jesses  are  secured  to 
its  legs  only  after  the  bird  has  been  hooded. 

When  fully  fledged,  the  eyesses  at  first  are  al- 
lowed to  fly  at  liberty,  or  ''on  hack,^'  around  the 
place  where  they  hitherto  have  been  fed.  Their 
flying  capabilities  are  thus  developed  and  their 
young  muscles  strengthened.  It  is  also  the  cus- 
tom, in  order  to  save  later  trouble,  to  teach  the 
young  hawks  while  on  hack  to  come  to  the  ''lure," 
of  which  more  later. 

After  the  eyess  has  remained  long  enough  on 
hack  to  develop  a  taste  for  chasing  sparrows  and 
other  small  birds,  and  perhaps  has  disposed  of  one 
or  two,  it  is  taken  up  by  means  of  a  bow-net.  Its 
serious  training  now  begins.  When  disen- 
tangled from  the  net  it  is  at  once  hooded.  The 
hood  is  a  small  leather  cap  so  constructed  as  to  fit 
snugly,  but  not  too  tightly,  over  the  head.  Light 
and  eyesight  are  thus  cut  oif  at  once,  and  the  bird 
becomes  docile  and  easy  to  handle.  From  the 
moment  the  birds  are  hooded  the  training  of  the 
two  classes — eyess  and  bird  of  passage* — is  alike. 

The  bird  is  placed  on  an  especially  constructed 
perch  in  a  large,  clean,  rat-proof  room,  and  se- 
cured there  by  a  short  leash  tied  to  the  jesses. 
It  must  now  be  tamed.  This  process  may  con- 
sume much  time  and  patience  or  scarcely  any  at 
all,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  hawk.  The 
bird  must  be  continually  stroked,  first  with  a 
feather,  then  with  the  hand,  until  it  shows  no 


122     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

further  fear  of  handling  by  the  keeper.  The  fal- 
coner then  teaches  it  to  leave  its  perch  for  his 
gauntleted  fist,  using  food  as  an  inducement. 
When  the  hawk  grows  so  accustomed  to  his  pres- 
ence that  it  will  come  eagerly  to  his  fist  in  search 
of  food  whenever  he  approaches  sufficiently  near 
its  perch,  the  bird  is  ready  for  further  training. 

The  falconer  is  now  satisfied  that  his  subject  can 
safely  be  introduced  to  the  lure.  This,  as  a  rule, 
consists  of  a  padded  weight  to  which  are  secured 
the  wings  of  some  large  bird,  like  a  pigeon  or  duck. 
It  is  provided  with  short  strings  by  which  pieces 
of  meat  attractive  to  the  hawk  can  be  tied  to  it. 
A  long  string  enables  the  falconer  to  drag  the 
lure  or  to  whirl  it  around  his  head  in  much  the 
same  fashion  that  Tom  Sawyer  whirled  his 
famous  rat. 

Having  baited  the  lure,  the  trainer  takes  the 
hooded  bird  upon  his  fist.  The  hood  is  then  re- 
moved and  the  lure  tossed  to  the  ground  two  or 
three  feet  away.  The  hawk,  espying  the  meat  and 
feathers,  jumps  for  them  and  immediately  begins 
eating.  When  about  half  the  meat  is  consumed, 
the  falconer  entices  her  back  to  his  fist  with  his 
voice  and  an  especially  acceptable  titbit  of  flesh. 
The  practice  is  continued  daily  until  the  hawk  is 
thoroughly  inured  to  the  lure  and  fails  to  take 
alarm  or  offense  at  the  actions  of  its  master. 

The  next  step  is  the  employment  of  a 
^^creance,''  a  light  string  fastened  to  the  leg  of 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT  123 

the  hawk.  Thus  secured,  the  bird  is  carried  off 
on  the  fist  of  an  assistant  to  a  distance  of  about 
thirty  feet  and  there  unhooded.  Upon  observing 
a  movement  of  the  lure  in  the  hands  of  the  fal- 
coner it  immediately  flies  back  to  it.  The  dis- 
tance is  gradually  extended  from  thirty  to  one 
hundred  feet  and  then  the  creance  is  dispensed 
with.  Thereafter  the  flights  to  the  lure  are  in- 
creased by  short  steps  up  to  half  a  mile  or  more, 
with  the  final  result  that  the  hawk  will  return  to 
the  lure  from  any  distance  from  which  it  can  see 
or  recognize  it. 

The  bird  is  now  sufficiently  prepared  to  be 
broken  in  on  live  quarry.  This  is  the  last  step 
before  introducing  it  to  field  work.  If,  for  in- 
stance, the  special  quarry  is  to  be  a  partridge,  a 
living  specimen  must  be  secured  and  flown  from 
the  end  of  a  short  string.  The  hawk,  when  un- 
hooded, will  at  once  take  wing  and  bear  the  part- 
ridge down.  Then,  before  being  brought  back 
to  the  fist,  it  should  be  permitted  to  make  almost 
a  full  meal  from  its  first  victim.  Two  or  three 
other  tethered  partridges  should  be  sacrificed  in 
the  same  manner  before  the  hawk  is  fitted  to  fly 
at  wild  game. 

The  first  trip  in  the  field  is  the  most  important 
phase  in  the  training  of  a  hawk.  Unless  it  kills 
the  first  bird  at  which  it  is  flown,  it  may  not 
bother  to  fly  at  another.  If  it  kills  at  once,  con- 
fidence is   established  in  its   own  prowess   and 


124    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

nothing  but  practice  is  needed  for  perfection. 
Thus,  matters  should  be  arranged  to  insure  a  kill. 
To  make  certain  of  success  a  trained*  bird-dog  is 
necessary,  one  which  will  stand  fast  on  a  point. 

In  the  case  of  a  falcon,  the  bird  is  unhooded 
when  the  dog  crouches  to  a  point.  Immediately 
upon  being  freed  of  the  hood,  the  falcon  takes 
to  the  air  and,  following  the  instinctive  habit  of 
its  kind,  rises  to  a  good  height,  or  ^ '  pitch. '  ^  While 
the  hawk  is  circling,  the  falconer  approaches  the 
dog  and  stands  ready  to  flush  the  partridge  at  the 
moment  the  falcon  gains  the  proper  position  to 
strike  at  the  birds.  An  instant  later  the  quarry 
go  up  with  a  whir.  The  falcon,  singling  out  a 
victim,  falls  li"ke  a  streak  of  gray  light  from  the 
blue  vault  of  the  sky.  The  selected  partridge 
falters  on  its  course,  then  goes  down,  struck  dead 
in  mid-air,  while  the  remainder  of  the  covey  vanish 
over  the  brow  of  a  neighboring  hill.  Turning 
quickly,  the  destroyer  plunges  after  its  stricken 
victim. 

Later  in  its  work,  when  the  falcon  gains  more 
skill,  the  trainer  permits  it  to  gain  a  greater 
pitch  than  at  first  before  he  so  much  as  turns 
the  hunting-dogs  loose  in  the  field.  The  bird, 
educated  now,  circles  and  hovers  above  the 
pointers  until  they  locate  a  covey.  Then,  if  the 
first  field  happens  to  prove  barren  of  quarry,  the 
falcon  follows  the  dogs  on  to  the  next  without  re- 
turning to  the  wrist  of  the  falconer. 


BIKDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         125 

Hunting  with  short-wing'ed  hawks  is  under- 
taken in  a  somewhat  different  manner.  The  bird 
is  not  unhooded  until  the  quarry  has  actually  taken 
wing.  The  dogs  come  to  a  halt,  the  falconer 
cautiously  draws  near;  he  flushes  the  quarry  and 
then  only  does  he  unhood  the  goshawk  or  sparrow- 
hawk  on  his  wrist.  The  hawk  immediately  sights 
the  partridge,  launches  out  after  it,  and  with  a 
rush  of  wings  strikes  it  do\vn.  Both  partridge 
and  hawk  fall  to  earth  together.  Unlike  the 
falcons  who  cause  death  to  their  quarry  by  a  blow 
from  their  half -closed  talons,  these  hawks  kill  by 
driving  their  claws  into  their  prey.  They  * '  bind '  ^ 
to  it  and  never  let  go. 

The  preferred  hawk  of  falconry  is  the  female. 
She  is  stronger,  better  able  to  cope  with  large 
quarry,  savage,  and  therefore  prized  by  falconers. 
Unless  otherwise  specified,  hawks  are  generally 
designated  as  belonging  to  the  feminine  gender. 
They  are  perfect  amazons,  and  it  is  to  them  that 
the  names  *^ peregrine, *'  ^^ merlin,''  and  ^'gos- 
hawk'' are  applied.  If  the  less  noble  male  is  to 
be  mentioned  it  is  merely  termed  a  ^^tierceP'  or 
a  **jack"  or  a  ** musket.''  Two  hawks  flown  to- 
gether, not  necessarily  a  pair,  are  termed  a 
^^cast." 

4 

Their  Food 

Although  the  training  of  a  hawk  has  been  some- 


126    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

what  enlarged  upon,  little  as  yet  ha&  been  said  of 
the  food  of  the  captive  birds.  And  yet  this  is  one 
of  the  most  important  factors  in  their  training. 
Too  much  care  cannot  be  given  to  this  item. 
Although  the  birds  are  not  by  nature  delicate  of 
constitution,  they  quickly  show  the  effects  of  im- 
proper feeding,  especially  during  an  active  cam- 
paign in  the  field. 

The  staple  diet  is  of  course  meat,  but  meat  in 
different  forms,  depending  upon  the  species  of 
hawk  to  be  fed.  A  peregrine,  being  a  large,  rug- 
ged bird,  subsists  best  on  beef;  but  that  is  too 
coarse  for  the  dainty  merlin:  she  thrives  better 
on  sheep 's  heart.  All  hawks  in  the  wild  condition 
daily  consume  a  large  amount  of  fur,  feathers, 
and  bone  together  with  the  flesh  of  their  victims, 
and  this  roughage  is  ejected  later  through  their 
mouths  in  the  form  of  oval  pellets.  Therefore, 
instead  of  soft  beef,  every  third  day  or  so  the 
peregrine  gets  a  pigeon,  the  leg  of  a  fowl,  or  part 
of  a  rabbit  with  the  fur  on.  Small  birds  and  mice 
are  fed  to  smaller  hawks.  If  the  falconer  fails 
to  discover  any  pellets,  or  *^  castings, ''  beneath  the 
perch  within  a  few  hours  after  the  roughage  has 
been  devoured,  he  knows  that  the  hawk  is  in  poor 
condition. 

The  smaller  hawks,  like  the  merlin  and  sparrow- 
hawk,  should  be  fed  twice  a  day,  at  seven  in  the 
morning  and  five  or  six  in  the  evening.  The  per- 
egrine and  goshawk,  unless  they  are  eyesses,  re- 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         127 

quire  sustenance  only  once  daily — in  the  evening. 
These  birds  will  consume  about  half  a  pound  at  a 
meal — the  merlin  considerably  less  because  of  her 
smaller  size.  Cold  meat  should  never  be  used, 
though  it  must  not  be  heated  above  blood  temper- 
ature. Finally,  when  taken  out  to  hunt,  the  hawk 
should  be  hungry  in  order  that  she  will  be  keen 
for  the  chase. 

When  a  hawk  strikes  down  her  quarry,  she  is 
allowed  only  a  mouthful  or  two — just  sufficient 
to  whet  her  appetite  for  more.  It  is  seldom  that 
the  falconer  allows  her  to  make  a  full  meal  in  the 
field,  unless  the  day's  hunting  is  over;  the  game 
generally  goes  into  his  bag. 

The  quarry  of  the  merlin  and  sparrow-hawk  in 
the  wild  state  is  small  birds.  They  are  there- 
fore employed  for  taking  larks,  blackbirds,  mag- 
pies, and  sometimes  partridges.  Peregrines  are 
flown  at  partridges,  grouse,  pheasants,  rooks, 
crows,  ravens,  herons,  and  other  large  birds. 
They  will  even  attack  kites,  another  species  of 
hawk,  and  the  ensuing  struggle  is  a  true  battle 
royal.  Goshawks  excel  upon  ground-game  such 
as  hares  and  rabbits,  and  are  highly  efficient  at  the 
capture  of  grouse  and  pheasants.  Eagles  are 
flown  in  parts  of  the  world  other  than  Europe, 
their  specialty  being  larger  game — gazelles, 
small  deer,  foxes,  boars,  and  even  wolves.  The 
quarry  list  of  falconry  is  indeed  a  formidable 
one. 


128    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 


Modem  Falconry 

Although  only  a  few  French,  Dutch,  and  British 
enthusiasts  now  take  pleasure  in  the  sport,  there 
was  a  period  when  it  was  considered  as  necessary 
for  a  member  of  a  noble  family  to  be  familiar 
with  all  the  intricacies  of  falcony  as  it  was  for 
him  to  be  conversant  with  horsemanship.  In 
those  days — from  the  tenth  to  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century — the  sport  had  a  firm  hold 
upon  civilization.  So  powerful  was  its  grip  that 
many  stringent  laws,  which  seem  wholly  unjust 
and  childish  to  us  now,  were  enacted  by  various 
monarchs  to  govern  its  performance.  A  code  was 
worked  out  which  was  adhered  to  by  every  one, 
royalty  and  serf  alike.  Special  hawks  were 
allotted  to  the  various  degrees  of  rank.  To  the 
king  went  the  use  of  the  gerfalcon;  to  the  noble- 
man, the  peregrine ;  to  the  yeoman,  the  goshawk ; 
to  the  priest,  the  sparrow-hawk;  and  to  the 
servant,  the  useless  kestrel.  A  king  naturally 
could  utilize  any  hawk  or  falcon  beneath  his  own 
in  rank,  but  it  was  not  permitted  to  the  nobleman 
to  fly  a  gerfalcon. 

Severe  penalties  were  imposed  upon  any  per- 
sons who  transgressed  the  law.  During  the  reign 
of  several  English  sovereigns,  among  them  Henry 
VII  and  Henry  VIII,  the  stealing  of  a  falcon  was 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         129 

punishable  with  death.  Elizabeth  was  more  lenient ; 
any  one  then  convicted  of  this  form  of  stealing  was 
merely  fined  and  imprisoned  for  a  period  not  to 
exceed  seven  years!  The  prison  term,  under 
James  I,  however,  was  reduced  to  one  month  and 
the  fine  was  set  at  forty  shillings.  Similar  strin- 
gent laws  were  in  efi^ect  all  over  Europe,  and  re- 
mained so  until  late  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Then,  they  gradually  relaxed.  By  the  opening  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  theft  of  a  hawk  in  Eng- 
land had  been  placed  in  the  same  category  as  the 
stealing  of  a  fowl  and  was  dealt  with  in  the  same 
manner. 

While  the  practice  of  falconry  as  a  fine  art  has 
virtually  disappeared  from  Europe  at  the  present 
time,  it  still  has  great  popularity  in  other  parts 
of  the  world  removed  from  the  glamour  of  modern 
civilization.  Although  unknown  to  the  American 
aborigines,  it  is  enthusiastically  carried  on  in 
parts  of  the  Old  World  wherever  there  exist 
nomadic  tribes.  As  with  the  ancients,  it  is  not 
merely  a  sport  with  these  people,  but  a  pleasant 
method  of  obtaining  food.  By  means  of 
desert  falcons  the  Arabs  procure  gazelles  and 
hares  for  the  larder,  an  example  which  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  inhabitants  of  Barbary  and  Morocco. 
The  roving  nomads  of  Siberia  seldom  travel  with- 
out their  hawks.  In  Turkestan  falconry  is  re- 
garded as  the  most  popular  sport  of  all.     The 


130    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

princes  of  India  frequently  enjoy  it;  falconry  to 
them  is  still  a  high  art.  And  it  has  a  considerable 
vogue  in  the  interior  of  China. 

The  hawks  employed  by  all  these  Oriental 
peoples  do  not  differ  from  those  utilized  a  few 
centuries  earlier  in  Europe,  nor  do  the  methods 
of  training  vary  in  any  notable  way.  Added  to 
the  falcons  and  short-winged  hawks,  however,  is 
a  third  bird,  the  eagle  of  the  emperors,  which 
under  the  name  of  berkute  holds  great  favor  in 
Turkestan  and  Siberia. 

The  eagle  is  trained  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  hawks  and  is  flown  like  a  goshawk.  Owing 
to  its  great  size  and  savage  temperament,  it  is 
kept  hooded  at  all  times  except  when  flown 
at  quarry.  It  is  capable  of  inflicting  serious 
damage  upon  its  keeper  if  once  aroused;  there- 
fore the  falconer  employs  the  greatest  cau- 
tion in  his  handling  of  it.  AVhen  the  eagle  is 
crouched  upon  the  body  of  its  victim  the  falconer 
approaches  gingerly  and  pops  a  hood  over  the 
bird's  head  before  he  dares  take  it  upon  his  fist. 

Foxes  and  even  wolves  are  common  prey  of 
this  savage  bird;  but  when  a  berkute  binds  to  a 
wolf  the  battle  may  prove  disastrous  for  the 
eagle  unless  the  falconer  hastens  to  the  rescue. 
He  rushes  up  and  attempts  to  despatch  the  wolf 
with  a  blow  of  the  club  he  carries,  before  the  wolf 
can  manoeuver  the  eagle  within  reach  of  its  jaws. 
Fox  hunting  is  not  so  dangerous,  and  by  this 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT         131 

means  some  Siberian  tribes  obtain  the  pelts  which 
they  use  for  barter  at  the  trading-posts. 


Fishing  with  Birds 

Among  all  the  hawks  mentioned  as  being  at 
some  time  or  other  trained  to  hunt  for  a  human 
master,  there  is  one  species  which  we  have  failed  to 
discuss.  This  is  the  osprey,  more  commonly 
known  as  the  fish-hawk.  Although  the  records 
are  not  clear  on  the  subject,  it  appears  that  this 
hawk  was  once  utilized  in  England  for  catching 
fish.  The  sport,  however,  did  not  gain  popu- 
larity. The  osprey  could  not  be  induced  by  train- 
ing to  deviate  from  its  instinctive  habit  of  flying 
to  the  top  of  a  tall  tree  or  post  immediately  its 
talons  had  closed  upon  its  prey.  Therefore  the 
priests,  who  supposedly  were  responsible  for  the 
attempt  to  modify  the  habits  of  the  hawk,  soon 
gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job. 

There  is,  however,  another  sort  of  bird,  the  cor- 
morant, which  is  trained  for  this  purpose.  The 
art  of  cormorant  fishing  originated  in  the  Far 
East  and  later  was  introduced  into  Europe,  where 
for  a  short  time  in  the  seventeenth  century  it 
found  favor.  But  its  popularity  there  was  short- 
lived ;  the  sport  was  attended  with  little  or  no  ex- 
citement. Now  for  a  view  of  the  art  in  practice 
one  must  travel  to  Japan,  China,  or  Formosa. 


132    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Fishing  with  cormorants  is  not  a  complicated 
business.  The  birds  need  scarcely  any  training. 
A  young  cormorant  is  captured  and  tamed  by 
allowing  it  a  sufficiency  of  fish  as  food.  When 
the  owner  believes  it  old  enough  to  begin  work, 
he  deposits  it  in  a  basket  and  carries  it  to  the 
fishing  ground.  A  metal  ring  is  then  slipped  over 
the  narrow  head  of  the  bird  and  down  the  neck  to 
the  shoulders.  One  foot  is  secured  by  a  long 
string  and  the  cormorant  is  tossed  into  the  water. 
The  fishing  has  begun. 

Following  its  natural  instinct,  the  cormorant 
immediately  begins  to  dive  and  swim  beneath  the 
surface  at  great  speed.  Presently  there  sounds 
a  slight  splash  near  the  boat;  the  bird  appears 
with  a  fish  gripped  crosswise  in  its  sharp  bill. 
With  a  gulp  it  is  swallowed,  and  the  cormorant 
plunges  once  more  beneath  the  water.  These 
actions  are  repeated  over  and  over  again  until 
the  small  fish,  prevented  by  the  metal  ring  from 
entering  the  stomach  of  the  bird,  distend  its  throat 
into  the  form  of  a  pouch. 

The  owner  now  decides  that  his  cormorant  has 
caught  all  the  fish  it  can  hold  and  pulls  it  aboard 
by  the  string,  hand  over  hand.  Before  seizing  the 
bird  the  fisherman  dons  a  mask  to  protect  him 
from  any  sudden  thrust  from  that  needle-like 
bill.  Then,  grasping  the  cormorant,  he  strips 
its  throat  of  its  contents,  depositing  the  fish  in  the 
boat  and  tossing  the  bird  overboard  again.    When 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  HUNT  133 

sufficient  fish  are  collected,  the  cormorant  is 
treated  to  a  few,  and  the  fisherman  journeys  to 
market  with  the  remainder  of  his  catch. 

Although  this  form  of  fishing  is  undertaken  no- 
where but  in  the  East,  it  is  a  sport  that  any  one 
can  take  part  in  if  he  will  take  the  trouble  of  catch- 
ing and  taming  a  young  cormorant.  A  pelican 
would  doubtless  prove  more  productive  of  excite- 
ment, if  it  could  be  trained  to  return  to  the  fisher- 
man the  moment  the  fish  becomes  locked  in  its 
pouch.  This  bird  plunges  upon  its  prey  from  the 
air  and  would  have  to  be  taught  to  return  to  some 
sort  of  lure.  It  would  be  amusing  to  make  the 
trial. 

Thus  far  none  of  the  sports  mentioned  above 
have  gained  a  foothold  in  the  United  'States. 
Experiments  have  been  carried  on  with  the  sharp- 
shin  and  Cooper's  hawk  with  promising  results, 
and  there  is  little  doubt  that  these  birds  will  prove 
as  tractable  as  the  Old  World  sparrow-hawk.  We 
have  also  our  own  peregrine  and  goshawk,  with 
the  pigeon-hawk  to  take  the  place  of  the  merlin. 
Falconry  is  well  worth  a  serious  trial. 


CHAPTER  VII 

BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM 

1.  Song-Birds.     2.  Talking  Birds.    3.  Birds  That  Give    Warning 
of  Danger.    4.  Birds  as  Decoys. 


Song-Birds 

Birds  taught  to  execute  some  little  trick  or  song 
have,  since  the  dawn  of  civilization,  taken  the 
position  of  favored  household  pets.  Mere  tame- 
ness,  although  tolerated  because  of  the  attrac- 
tive disposition  of  the  bird,  or  beautiful  coloring, 
or  the  fact  that  it  gives  the  trainer  a  complacent 
feeling  of  having  conquered  a  wild  creature  by 
kindness,  does  not  lead  to  violent  enthusiasm  for 
the  bird.  What  is  most  fancied  is  one  which,  like 
a  bullfinch,  can  whistle  *^ Yankee  Doodle,''  or  a 
parrot  that  will  recite  the  tale  of  ^*01d  Mother 
Hubbard/'  or  a  crow  that  performs  ludicrous 
tricks  with  its  bill  like  the  famous  bird  at  the  New 
.York  Hippodrome.  A  bird  of  this  sort  will  be 
cherished  by  its  owner  and  proudly  exhibited  at 
every  chance. 

In  the  same  way,  a  common  barn-yard  duck 
means  nothing  to  a  duck  shooter,  but  if  it  has  de- 

134 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      135 

veloped  into  a  first-class  caller  it  will  prove  his 
most  valuable  asset  in  a  ducking-blind.  While 
the  beauty  of  a  captive  bird  may  appeal  to  our 
esthetic  sense,  its  practical  value  is  measured  by 
its  performance. 

Most  birds,  however,  when  captured  and  tamed 
da  develop  some  accomplishment  and  thus  afford 
an  excuse  for  their  taking.  These  achievements 
are  of  many  kinds,  including  singing,  talking  or 
mimicking,  and  acting  as  barometers  of  danger 
and  as  decoys  and  hunters.  Birds  that  sing  and 
talk  are  the  ones  which  are  most  commonly  taken 
for  the  cage,  and  of  these  the  best  known  are  the 
canaries  and  parrots. 

The  canary  is  a  native  of  the  Azores,  Madeira, 
and  Canary  islands.  Early  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury it  was  introduced  into  Europe  by  sailors  and 
was  received  with  enthusiasm  because  of  its  song. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  recognize  in  the  dull-plu- 
maged  little  finch  of  those  days  the  forefather  of 
the  modern  vivid  yellow  bird.  The  wild  canary 
is  far  from  beautiful.  Above  it  is  dark  olive,  the 
only  color  to  be  seen  being  a  slight  greenish- 
yellow  tint  on  the  rump  and  breast.  The  sides  of 
the  breast  are  gray  with  dark  stripes,  and  be- 
neath it  is  dirty  white. 

Despite  the  low-toned  hue  of  its  body,  its  drab 
and  uninteresting  appearance,  the  exquisite  voice 
of  this  tiny  songster  flew  straight  into  the  hearts 
of  the  people.     The  bird  seemed  to  thrive  in  cap- 


136     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

tivity;  once  tamed,  it  easily  fell  under  the  spell 
of  domestication.  Generations  of  caged  canaries 
passed.  Gradually  their  primitive  coloring  be- 
gan to  show  a  change;  yellow  replaced  the  dull 
olive,  gray,  and  white,  and  there  evolved  our 
vivid-hued  songster  of  to-day. 

There  now  exist  thirty  or  more  canary  breeds, 
some  of  which  show  as  wide  dissimilarity  from 
the  wild  type  as  our  domestic  fowl  from  the  jun- 
gle-fowl, or  a  fantail  pigeon  from  a  rock-dove. 
Green,  yellow,  and  cinnamon  canaries  are  com- 
mon. They  are  to  be  found  in  all  shades  of 
orange,  and  pure  whites  are  not  exceptional. 
Some  breeds  are  mottled,  others  are  streaked 
above  and  below  with  browTi  or  black ;  several  are 
slim  of  body  and  long-legged,  and  a  few  are  dumpy 
and  short-legged.  Many  are  merely  balls  of  fluff 
and  frills,  while  others  own  crests  like  Jacobin  pi- 
geons. 

But  the  breeder's  art  was  not  entirely  concen- 
trated upon  securing  variation  in  form  and  color. 
The  trainers  worked  unceasingly  upon  the  voice 
of  the  canary  and  succeeded  in  adding  to  its  qual- 
ity. The  natural  song  of  the  bird,  already  mldly 
sweet,  has  been  enriched  with  new  notes.  The 
soft  familiar  trill  which  so  pleases  the  ear  is  a 
Xjroduct  of  man's  selection,  not  of  nature's. 

The  best  songsters  are  now  bred  in  Germany, 
near  St.  Andreasburg.  When  the  yomig  cocks 
have  completed  their  first  molt — females  do  not 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM     137 

sing — they  are  placed  each  in  a  separate  cage  and 
left  in  a  partly  darkened  room.  An  old  bird, 
known  as  a  ^^ schoolmaster^'  and  selected  for  his 
perfect  voice,  is  then  introduced  into  the  room  so 
that  the  youngster,  through  an  inborn  instinct  for 
imitation,  will  learn  to  copy  his  song.  In  place 
of  the  schoolmaster,  or  as  his  aid,  a  musical  in- 
strument termed  a  *^  bird-organ, '^  on  which  many 
of  the  required  runs  can  be  produced,  is  some- 
times employed.  The  bird-organ  is  used  almost 
entirely  in  the  United  States  as  a  means  of  train- 
ing, not  because  it  is  more  efficient  than  the 
schoolmasters,  but  because  they  were  difficult  to 
secure.  Germany  has  a  monopoly  on  the  latter 
just  as  she  once  had  on  the  dye  industry,  and 
jealously  guards  them  against  export.  There- 
fore, although  accomplished  songsters  have  been 
reared  in  America  and  other  countries,  the  most 
unique  examples  still  come  from  the  land  of 
schoolmasters  and  whistling  bullfinches. 

The  voice  of  the  bullfinch  in  the  wild  state  is  a 
^*  clear  piping  call  and  a  curious  little  squeaky 
song''  delivered  with  much  vim.  It  has  none  of 
the  soft  sweetness  of  the  wild  canary.  But  as  the 
bullfinch  is  a  native  of  German  groves  and 
thickets,  and  easily  tamed,  the  people  there  have 
taken  it  in  hand.  It  does  not  breed  well  in  cap- 
tivity; therefore  the  young  birds  are  caught  wild 
and,  being  clever  imitators,  are  taught  to  whistle 
various  tunes.    Despite  the  bullfinch's  naturally 


138    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

unmusical  voice,  it  proves  to  be  an  excellent 
performer  when  trained.  Under  the  impulse  of 
imitation  it  learns  to  sing  and  whistle  clearly 
and  sweetly,  this  ability  making  it  much  sought 
for  on  the  market. 

Both  these  birds — the  canary  and  the  bullfinch 
— are  imported  into  the  United  States  in  great 
numbers,  canaries  of  course  greatly  predominat- 
ing. Each  bird  occupies  a  small  cage  about  five 
inches  wide  by  six  inches  deep  and  tall.  Seven 
cages  are  slung  on  a  strip  of  w^ood,  a  unit  of 
seven  being  known  as  a  ^^ stick''  or  *^row." 
These  are  placed  in  large  wooden  frames  tightly 
wrapped  in  canvas  for  shipment.  The  fronts  of 
the  frames  are  open,  with  a  canvas  curtain  draped 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  birds  have  sufficient  air 
but  cannot  see  or  be  frightened  by  what  is  going 
on  about  them. 

Upon  reacliing  their  destination,  the  cages  are 
piled  one  above  the  other  in  great  tiers,  and  the 
birds  graded  according  to  quality  of  voice.  They 
are  then  ready  for  shipping  to  the  retail  dealers 
who  sell  them  to  their  final  owners. 

The  World  War  interfered  seriously  with  the 
importation  of  foreign  song-birds  and  the  trade 
has  fallen  off  to  a  large  extent.  Before  the  war 
an  annual  average  of  more  than  350,000  canaries 
was  introduced  into  the  United  States  from 
abroad;  now  scarcely  half  that  number  arrive 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      139 

each  year,  and  only  a  thousand  or  two  bullfinches. 
The  trade,  however,  is  slowly  reviving.  In  1921 
several  shipments,  each  of  five  thousand  or  more 
canaries,  arrived  in  New  York  from  various  Euro- 
pean countries.  The  prospects  of  1922  are  even 
brighter. 

Although  bullfinches  and  canaries  are  by  far 
the  finest  trained  song-birds  in  existence,  there 
is  a  multitude  of  untrained  cage-birds  whose 
native  voices  are  as  sweet.  The  notes  of  the 
moriche  oriole  have  no  rival  for  timbre ;  the  song 
of  the  bulbul  has  caused  Persian  poets  to  weep 
in  ecstasy.  Without  going  further  into  detail,  we 
have  the  babblers,  the  European  blackbirds,  the 
solitaires  of  Mexico,  the  song-thrushes,  the  night- 
ingales, the  sky-larks,  the  weavers,  the  Southern 
troopials,  the  minas  of  the  East,  and  an  almost 
inexhaustible  list  of  others,  any  one  of  which 
would  make  a  German  *^ schoolmaster'^  tremble 
for  his  honors  and  put  a  *^ bird-organ''  to  shame. 
But  these  birds  are  rarities  and  difficult  to  pro- 
cure. 

2 

Talking  Birds 

Following  close  after  song-birds  in  popular 
praise  are  those  species  which  can  be  taught  to 
imitate  the  human  voice.    Every  person  is  fa- 


140    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

miliar  with  parrots  and  what  they  are  capable  of 
saying;  therefore  we  shall  pass  lightly  over  this 
group. 

Three  families  of  parrots  are  suitable  as  cage- 
birds.  Of  them,  those  termed  true  parrots, — 
including  macaws,  parrakeets,  amazons,  gray 
parrots,  and  love-birds, — ^make  the  aptest  pupils. 
The  best  pet  and  most  accomplished  talker  is  the 
gray  parrot  from  Africa,  although  not  greatly 
superior  to  the  South  American  amazons  in  either 
of  these  capacities.  As  sailors*  pets  the  amazons 
are  well  known,  both  in  fiction  and  in  true  life. 
Macaws,  though  noisy  beyond  reason  and  mis- 
chievous, can  be  taught  to  talk  clearly,  as  can  a 
few  parrakeets.  The  sole  claim  of  love-birds  to 
popularity,  however,  is  their  affectionate  dispo- 
sition.    They  are  silent. 

Cockatoos  belong  to  an  entirely  different  group 
of  parrots,  being  inhabitants  of  the  East  Indies, 
Australia,  and  several  neighboring  islands.  Al- 
though docile  pets  they  are  easily  excited,  and 
when  that  occurs  their  cries  can  be  heard  for 
miles.  It  has  been  rightfully  said  that  they  are 
more  fond  of  screaming  than  talking.  The  vo- 
cabulary of  the  average  cockatoo  consists  of  a 
word  or  two,  but  once  in  a  while  a  fair  talker  mil 
be  found  among  them.  As  a  whole,  however, 
they  cannot  compare  with  the  amazons,  to  whom 
imitation  is  second  nature,  and  may  be  classed 
with   the   third    family   of   parrots,    the   lories, 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      141 

which  make  excellent  pets  but  will  not  talk  at  all. 

A  native  power  of  mimicry  is  the  essential  up- 
on which  rests  the  ability  of  birds  to  repeat 
words  of  human  origin.  Their  whole  training  is 
based  on  imitation  of  sound,  not  of  action. 
Clever  body  manoeuvers  played  with  the  wings, 
feet,  or  bill  are  the  outcome  of  a  habit  instilled  in 
them  by  the  trainer  through  continuous  repe- 
tition until  the  movements  have  become  instinc- 
tive. The  performing  crow  at  the  New  York 
Hippodrome  has  been  taught  by  repeated  trials 
and  an  innate  love  for  carrying  objects  in  its 
bill  to  catch  rubber  balls  tossed  in  its  direction, 
a  trick  that  it  could  not  learn  by  imitation.  But, 
despite  a  facility  in  acrobatics,  it  is  impossible 
to  teach  a  crow  to  say  more  than  a  few  words. 
It  is  not  naturally  a  clever  imitator  of  sound. 

But  the  power  of  mimicking  is  not  everything. 
Although  a  bird  may  be  able  to  mimic  it  will  not 
necessarily  do  so  without  some  inducement. 
An  amazon  parrot  says,  *^  Polly  wants  a 
cracker,"  first,  because  it  likes  to  make  the 
sounds,  and,  secondly,  because  it  has  learned  to 
associate  the  sounds  mth  food.  The  captive 
bird  quickly  learns  that  it  can  make  capital  out 
of  its  art  of  mimicry.  Its  tendency  soon  is  to 
imitate  the  sound  of  everything  that  goes  on  near 
the  cage.  It  finds  that  the  more  it  mimics  the 
better  care  it  gets.  Then,  as  time  passes,  the  im- 
itation of  the  human  voice  becomes  a  fast-set 


142    THE  IMPOETANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

habit.  It  no  longer  is  coupled  with  the  idea  of 
food.  The  bird  now  repeats  words  freely.  Its 
shrill  screeches  have  been  replaced  by  other 
sounds.     It  becomes  talkative. 

Parrots,  however,  are  not  the  only  birds  that 
can  be  taught  to  imitate  human  speech.  The 
hill  minas  of  southern  Asia  and  the  East  Indies 
are  equally  proficient  in  the  art.  These  birds, 
although  hardly  larger  than  a  thrush,  will  talk 
in  an  extraordinarily  strong  rich  voice,  and  their 
enunciation  is  more  perfect  than  that  of  the  gen- 
eral run  of  parrots.  They  are  wonderful  sing- 
ers, loquacious  imitators  of  other  birds,  and  al- 
together are  valuable  additions  to  the  aviary. 

Crows,  jackdaws,  and  magpies  are  also  talkers 
of  more  or  less  distinction.  While  they  never 
attain  the  proficiency  of  parrots,  they  can  say  a 
few  words.  Gifted  magpies  have  been  taught  to 
repeat  sentences  of  considerable  length. 

3 

Birds  That  Give  Warning  of  Danger 

There  are  certain  types  of  birds  which  have 
been  utilized  by  man  to  warn  him  of  the  ap- 
proach of  danger.  Among  these  is  the  guinea- 
fowl,  which  might  well  be  said  to  take  the  place 
of  a  watch-dog.  When  disturbed  it  awakens  the 
neighborhood  with  a  series  of  piercing,  grating 
calls  which  jar  unpleasantly  on  the  ear  and  will 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      143 

arouse  the  soundest  sleeper.  Guinea-fowl  are 
often  maintained  on  poultry  farms  merely  for 
the  sake  of  the  protection  they  afford  against 
night  prowlers. 

During  the  World  War  the  pheasants  in  Eng- 
land developed  into  fairly  responsible  sentinels 
against  Zeppelin  attacks.  The  birds  seemed 
particularly  sensitive  to  far-off  explosions  and  a 
raid  generally  was  heralded  by  a  concerted  crow- 
ing of  cocks.  It  is  even  asserted  that  the  crow- 
ing sometimes  preceded  the  actual  attack  by 
from  fifteen  minutes  to  half  an  hour.  When 
the  voices  of  the  pheasants  were  heard  raised  in 
alarm,  the  air-men  looked  to  their  machines  and 
the  gunners  manned  their  anti-aircraft  pieces.^ 

Canaries  also  are  employed  to  detect  danger, 
though  in  a  very  different  manner.  It  has  long 
been  recognized  that  they  are  about  fifteen  times 
as  susceptible  to  the  effects  of  carbon  monoxide 
and  other  poisonous  gases  as  are  human  beings. 
Thus,  for  generations  these  birds  have  proved  of 
the  utmost  value  in  mines  for  detecting  the  first 
traces  of  noxious  fumes.  During  mine  disasters 
they  are  used  by  rescuing  parties  to  give  warn- 
ing of  renewed  danger. 

Canaries  were  utilized  in  the  World  War  as  a 
part  of  the  equipment  of  the  sappers  in  their 
tunneling  operations.  They  saved  many  lives, 
usually   at  the   expense   of   their  own,   through 

1  Gladstone,  "Birds  and  the  War." 


144    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

their  ability  to  detect  subterranean  gases. 
Cages  containing  the  tiny  songsters  hung  in  dug- 
outs and  trenches,  at  any  point  where  the  enemy 
gas  might  penetrate,  and  thousands  of  canaries 
succumbed  in  order  that  the  soldiers  might  live 
to  carry  on. 


Birds  as  Decoys 

The  proverb  that  *^a  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth 
iwo  in  the  bush''  is  a  truism  to  the  trapper.  No 
one  realizes  better  than  he  that  it  is  one  thing  to 
have  a  bird  already  locked  in  a  cage  and  a  wholly 
different  thing  to  persuade  another  to  enter 
after  it.  Thoughts  of  the  same  character  flash 
through  the  brain  of  the  sportsman  who  crouches 
gun  in  hand  at  the  edge  of  a  slough  while  a  flock 
of  teal  or  black  duck  whistles  by  out  of  gunshot. 
He  is  bitterly  aware  that,  but  for  one  thing, 
several  of  those  birds  would  have  been  his;  a 
solemn  vow  is  then  and  there  registered  that  he 
will  never  go  duck-shooting  again  without  that 
valuable  article.  The  failure  of  his  hopes  rests 
upon  the  lack  of  live  decoy-ducks. 

The  inestimable  worth  of  decoys  for  luring 
water-fowl  into  snares  was  early  recognized  by 
the  ancients,  who  made  a  practice  of  netting 
ducks  in  large  numbers.  Many  centuries  later, 
with  the  entrance  of  the  fowling-piece  into  the 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM     145 

field  of  sport,  it  was  learned  that  decoys  were  of 
more  importance  than  ever  in  the  taking  of  wild- 
fowl. As  the  birds  grew  fewer  they  became 
more  wary,  so  wary  in  fact  that  the  sportsman 
without  decoys  to  aid  him  in  enticing  the  ducks 
within  gunshot  had  about  as  much  chance  of  ob- 
taining one  as  the  fisherman  has  of  catching  a 
trout  on  a  bare  hook. 

While  shooting  was  in  its  infancy,  it  was  the 
custom  to  employ  only  live  decoys.  But  as  the 
sport  grew  more  popular,  as  the  shot-gun  im- 
proved and  became  sufficiently  cheap  for  any 
person  to  own  one,  the  demand  for  live  decoy- 
birds  increased  in  proportion.  Soon  the  supply 
failed  to  equal  the  call  for  them,  and  thus  it  hap- 
pened that  wooden  images  gradually  took  their 
place.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  now  more  than  90 
per  cent,  of  all  duck  decoys  are  products  of  the 
manufacturer.  On  the  other  hand,  so  popular 
has  become  the  shooting  of  water-fowl  and  shore- 
birds,  so  numerous  are  the  devotees  of  the  sport, 
and,  furthermore,  so  advantageous  to  the  sports- 
men are  call-birds,  that  live  decoys  are  still  uti- 
lized by  tens  of  thousands. 

In  the  case  of  shorebirds,  such  as  yellowlegs 
and  black-breasted  plover,  species  which  own  the 
most  trusting  dispositions  of  all  game-birds, 
only  manufactured  decoys  are  resorted  to.  But 
this  type  of  game  stands  in  a  class  by  itself.  Its 
dominant     instinct,     that     of     gregariousness, 


146    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

proves  its  undoing.  It  flies  without  hesitation 
to  any  group  of  objects  which  resemble  in  any 
respect  its  own  kindred.  The  sight  of  these 
decoys,  together  with  the  imitative  whistles  of 
the  hidden  gunner,  seem  to  arouse  in  the  birds  an 
unquenchable  desire  for  companionship  that 
blinds  them  to  all  danger,  even  the  reports  of 
guns  and  the  falling  of  other  members  of  the 
flock.  The  writer  has  seen  large  clam-shells 
and  pieces  of  shingles  successfully  employed  in 
place  of  well  modeled  tin  or  wooden  decoys. 

Far  more  wary  are  the  ducks,  geese,  and  other 
water-fowl.  So  deep-seated  in  them  is  native 
suspicion  that  time  and  again  they  will  pass  by 
apparently  unnoticed  the  great  flock  of  wooden 
images  thoughtfully  arrayed  in  front  of  the  hid- 
den blind  by  the  hunter.  If,  however,  he  has 
staked  out  one  or  two  call-ducks  on  short  tether- 
ing strings  in  the  midst  of  the  decoys,  the  sus- 
picions of  the  wild  birds  are  allayed  by  their 
quacks,  and  they  fly  in  to  destruction. 

Garrulous  drakes  are  used  as  call-ducks,  gen- 
erally mallards  or  black  ducks,  these  being  the 
most  easily  tamed.  They  undergo  no  training 
before  being  taken  to  the  blind.  A  good  drake 
will  soon  learn  its  business  and  refuse  to  ex- 
change confidences  with  every  passing  bird. 
The  caller  which  quacks  at  a  fish-hawk  is  not  es- 
teemed by  the  sportsman.  He  requires  a  drake 
which  confines  its  attentions  wholly  to  ducks. 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      147 

Live  decoy-ducks  are  used  principally  against 
members  of  their  own  species  which  otherwise 
are  exceedingly  difficult  to  secure  on  open  water. 
They  are  seldom  deceived  by  artificial  decoys. 
Of  late  years,  however,  it  has  become  a  practice 
in  certain  States  to  bait  small  shallow  ponds  and 
sloughs  for  black  duck  and  mallard,  a  trick 
which  the  wary  birds  cannot  penetrate.  Com  is 
scattered  freely  over  the  bottom  and,  when  the 
ducks  have  grown  accustomed  to  congregating 
there  to  feed,  they  are  shot  from  blinds  as  they 
arrive. 

Live  birds  are  employed  almost  entirely  to  as- 
sure the  ducks  that  the  way  is  clear,  and  so  suc- 
cessful has  this  method  of  slaughter  proved  that 
it  has  been  followed  by  a  rapid  decrease  in  the 
black  duck  and  mallard  population.  Bags  of 
fifty  and  sixty  birds  to  the  gun  are  not  uncommon 
on  baited  pools.  Unless  it  is  soon  replaced  by 
a  more  sportsmanlike  system  of  shooting,  there 
will  be  very  few  ducks  to  try  it  on  in  the  near 
future. 

Another  method  much  in  vogue  a  generation 
ago  and  still  somewhat  used  for  taking  ducks  is 
that  employed  on  a  few  inland  lakes  of  the 
Middle  West.  A  small  body  of  water  is  selected 
for  the  purpose,  one  containing  a  quantity  of 
natural  food  which  has  drawn  thither  from  year 
to  year  great  hordes  of  ducks.  A  post  is  driven 
into  the  mud  at  the  center  of  the  lake  and  from  it, 


148     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

secured  by  a  pulley,  an  endless  line  is  run  under 
the  water  to  the  shooting-stand  on  shore.  To 
the  line  are  then  fastened  a  score  or  more  tame 
ducks  by  a  light  string  attached  to  their  feet. 

The  operation  of  the  contrivance  is  simple.  A 
man  on  shore  pulls  the  ducks  by  means  of  the 
pulley  out  toward  the  center  post,  where  they 
begin  to  feed  on  grain  already  scattered  for 
them.  Not  many  minutes  elapse  before  their  ac- 
tivities attract  some  passing  wild  flock  which 
immediately  settles  around  them.  The  line  is 
now  gently  manipulated.  The  tame  birds  drift 
slowly  toward  shore  followed  by  the  wild  ones. 
Presently  they  arrive  within  gunshot  of  the 
blind.  The  gunners  leap  to  their  feet ;  there  is  a 
wild  splashing  on  the  water,  the  wild  ducks  take 
wing,  and  the  shooting  is  on. 

iStill  a  further  method  of  decoying  water-fowl 
within  reach  of  the  gun  is  by  utilizing  tame  geese 
which  will  fly  out  to  a  flock  and  lead  them  to  the 
shooting-stand.  This  is  a  modern  form  of  sport 
coming  into  great  popularity  along  parts  of  the 
New  England  coast  where  wild  geese  are  still 
numerous  in  the  shooting  season.  So  fascinating 
is  it  that  the  sportsman  often  forgets  to  slay  the 
victims,  in  his  interest  in  the  performance  of  his 
trained  flock. 

The  flying  of  geese  is  undertaken  in  somewhat 
the  following  fashion:  some  distance  from  the 
shooting-stand,  and  also  at  the  edge  of  the  estuary, 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM     149 

stands  a  pen  containing  perhaps  fifty  thoroughly 
domesticated  and  tame  Canada  geese.  The  pen  is 
connected  with  the  stand  by  a  telephone.  When 
the  gunners  sight  a  flock  of  geese  which  will  pass 
not  far  away,  they  at  once  notify  the  pen.  The 
domesticated  birds  are  thereupon  released  by  a 
man  stationed  there  for  the  purpose.  They  take 
wing,  and,  attaining  a  considerable  height,  fly 
honking  noisily  to  form  a  junction  with  the  wild 
flock.  A  garrulous  greeting  awaits  them,  and 
then,  after  paying  their  respects,  they  head 
straight  for  the  shooting-stand.  The  wild  geese 
naturally  trail  on  behind,  so  that  in  a  moment  or 
two  all  splash  into  the  water  within  easy  range  of 
the  blind. 

But  the  manoeuvers  of  the  treacherous  fifty  are 
not  yet  completed.  They  are  hungry.  And  a 
few  yards  to  one  side  of  the  stand,  twenty  feet 
or  so  back  from  the  water-line,  is  the  spot  where 
they  are  always  fed.  What  is  more,  grain  should 
be  lying  there  already  scattered,  waiting  for  their 
crops.  Without  loss  of  time  the  fifty  crowd  ashore 
and  waddle  to  the  grain,  while  the  timid  wild  birds 
remain  behind  as  easy  marks  for  the  gunners. 

This  sport  holds  a  fascination  for  sportsmen 
which  no  other  form  of  shooting  sport  has  ever 
had.  It  is  unique  and  spectacular.  The  tendency 
is  growing  among  its  followers  to  consider  the 
wild  geese  which  have  been  drawn  into  the  toils 
as  secondary  to  the  fun  of  operating  and  training 


150     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

the  tame  birds.  It  is  quite  possible  that  geese 
flying  of  the  future  may  develop  into  a  non-shoot- 
ing sport. 

Gulls  and  terns,  as  well  as  some  other  birds,  are 
extraordinarily  inquisitive  by  nature,  a  failing 
which  in  past  years  has  proved  a  serious  adjunct 
to  their  downfall.  In  the  dark  days  when  the 
millinery  trade  in  native  bird-skins  flourished, 
market  gunners  took  advantag^e  of  this  idiosyn- 
crasy to  fill  their  bags.  A  wounded  tern  or  gull 
was  necessary  for  the  game.  It  was  pegged  out 
on  the  sand  by  a  string,  where  its  wild  flutterings 
could  be  seen  by  passing  birds.  Before  many 
minutes  passed  dozens  would  be  hovering  curi- 
ously over  their  disabled  companion,  filling  the  air 
with  discordant,  questioning  cries. 

This  was  the  psychological  moment  for  the  gun- 
ner, and  he  lost  no  time  in  acting.  The  more 
birds  he  brought  do\vTi,  the  more  it  seemed  would 
congregate  in  the  vicinity.  They  paid  little  or  no 
attention  to  the  sound  of  gun-fire.  Their  atten- 
tion was  concentrated  only  upon  the  strange  sight 
of  their  brothers  scattered  in  such  disorderly 
array  on  the  beach.  The  gunner  if  he  desired 
could  kill  a  thousand  without  driving  the  others 
away.  Generally  he  was  content  with  a  hundred, 
for  those  were  all  he  could  skin  in  a  day. 

Decoy-birds  are  also  utilized  in  trapping  song- 
birds and  hawks.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  a 
shrike,  the  deadly  enemy  of  all  hawks,  is  some- 


BIEDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM     151 

times  used  to  give  warning  of  the  presence  of  a 
bird  of  prey,  which  is  then  lured  into  a  net  by  the 
fluttering  of  a  <?aptive  pigeon.  In  India  hawks 
are  caught  by  securing  a  lure  bird  behind  a  net 
stretched  between  two  posts  or  trees  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  hawk  cannot  get  at  the  bird. 
While  attempting  to  seize  its  quarry,  the  hawk 
gets  tangled  in  the  meshes  and  is  easily  taken. 

Again,  small  birds  have  been  employed  to  entice 
hawks  within  reach  of  a  gun,  but  the  method  is 
slow  and  tedious,  and  meets  with  small  success. 
Birds  of  prey,  however,  are  easily  brought  within 
range  of  the  gunner  by  his  tossing  the  body  of  a 
crow  or  pigeon  into  the  air  in  such  a  way  that  the 
hawks  will  be  certain  to  see  it.  This  means  is 
especially  effective  during  the  early  spring  migra- 
tion, when  the  birds  move  in  large  numbers  over 
narrow  air  paths. 

The  writer  has  seen  as  many  as  a  dozen  hawks 
brought  to  ground  in  this  manner  in  one  day. 
For  the  best  results  several  dead  crows  or  pigeons 
are  necessary.  When  the  gunner  sights  a  hawk 
flying  in  his  direction,  he  begins  to  toss  up  the 
bodies  as  high  as  he  can,  one  by  one,  until  the  vic- 
tim has  seen  them.  Then,  if  the  hawk  happens  to 
be  in  a  hungry  mood,  its  wings  half  close  and 
down  it  swoops  in  a  perfect  nose-dive  straight  for 
the  spot  where  it  has  espied  its  quarry. 

By  this  means  all  kinds  of  hawks  may  be  taken — 
falcons.  Cooper  ^s  hawks,  and  even  the  red-tailed 


152    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

or  red-shouldered  species.  The  hunter  therefore 
should  be  able  to  discriminate  between  harmful 
and  beneficial  varieties  before  he  undertakes  to 
use  a  gun. 

Still  another,  and  perhaps  more  successful, 
though  less  thrilling,  method  of  securing  birds  of 
prey — and  crows  as  well — is  by  the  use  of  a  stuffed 
owl  fixed  on  a  pole.  The  wings  of  the  dummy 
work  on  hinges,  allowing  them  to  be  moved  by  the 
pull  of  a  string.  The  flapping  kindles  the  ire  of 
the  birds  of  passage,  who  universally  detest  an 
owl,  and  they  dive  down  to  wreak  their  vengeance 
upon  it. 

The  stuffed  owl  is  often  used  to  entice  small 
song-birds  upon  a  tree  branch  covered  with  limed 
sticks.  The  little  songsters  hate  an  owl  as  keenly 
as  do  all  larger  birds  and  in  daylight  will  crowd 
around  it,  loudly  giving  voice  to  their  displeasure 
at  its  presence  in  their  domain.  Twigs  smeared 
with  bird-lime  are  placed  near  the  owl,  and  when  a 
birds  touches  one  the  twig  adheres  to  its  feathers. 
Both  bird  and  twig  fall  to  the  ground  where  they 
can  be  picked  up  by  the  bird-catcher. 

But  song-birds  are  more  often  taken  in  trap- 
cages  in  which  have  been  placed  live  decoy-birds. 
The  cages  are  constructed  of  snrall-mesh  wire 
netting  and  are  composed  of  three  or  four  com- 
partments. The  compartments  on  either  end  are 
fitted  on  top  with  spring  doors  which  snap  shut 
when  the  specially  constructed  triggers  inside  are 


BIRDS  TRAINED  TO  PERFORM      153 

released.  The  call-bird  is  deposited  in  the  center 
compartment. 

The  cage  is  then  suspended  from  a  branch  in 
a  likely  spot.  The  spring  doors  on  top  are  opened 
and  the  triggers  set  and  baited.  The  triggers 
consist  merely  of  perches  which  will  be  dislodged 
from  a  catch-notch  by  the  weight  of  a  bird  alight- 
ing upon  them.  Several  wild  birds,  observing 
what  they  believe  is  one  of  their  number  in 
trouble,  soon  congregate  about  and  upon  the  cage. 
The  call-bird  shows  signs  of  excitement,  calling 
and  fluttering.  The  wild  birds  become  equally  ex- 
cited. Their  curiosity  is  aroused.  The  call-bird 
begins  to  peck  at  the  food  in  its  compartment  and 
the  outsiders  are  eager  to  follow  suit.  One  ven- 
tures through  an  open  door,  alighting  full  upon 
the  trigger.  A  '  *  snap ' '  follows,  and  the  cage  has 
one  more  prisoner. 

These  are  only  a  few  ways  in  which  birds  are 
utilized  as  decoys  to  lure  members  of  their  own 
tribe  to  captivity  or  destruction.  Every  nation 
has  its  methods,  as  have  all  half -civilized  or  sav- 
age peoples. 


CHAPTER  VTII 

ORNAMENTAL   PLUMES 

1.    Feather   Structure.     2.   The  Rise   of   Ornamental   Plumes.     3. 
Plume   Hunters.     4.  The   Fall   of   Ornamental  Plumes. 


Feather  Structure 

The  most  outstanding  feature  of  the  bird  is  its 
feathers.  They  are  its  inheritance,  the  unique 
indisputable  badge  of  the  avian  class.  Like  the 
fur  of  a  mammal,  they  act  as  a  body  covering  to 
aid  in  the  maintenance  of  an  even  body  tempera- 
ture, so  essential  to  all  warm-blooded  creatures. 
They  are  insulators  against  heat  and  cold,  neutral- 
izers  of  climate  and  elements. 

Several  million  years  have  passed  since  the 
leathery  scales  of  some  long-extinct  reptile  began 
to  develop  a  plumose  character.  Those  special- 
ized scales  finally  altered  into  what  we  term 
feathers,  a  change  which  took  place  at  a  time  of 
which  we  have  no  record.  The  only  trace  of  a 
pre-feathered  condition  is  now  found  in  the  early 
embryo,  a  replica  of  which  is  also  seen  in  the  em- 
bryo of  an  alligator.  If  we  had  no  proof  of  their 
origin  it  would  be  difficult  to  believe  that  such 

154 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  155 

highly  complicated  structures  could  have  evolved 
from  a  section  of  tough  horny  integument. 

For  the  purpose  of  analysis  let  us  take  an  ordi- 
nary feather — a  primary — ^from  the  wing.  On 
close  inspection  we  discover  that  it  is  composed, 
so  to  speak,  of  ^ve  different  units.  The  basal 
portion — the  hollow  transparent  stem — is  termed 
the  ^^ calamus"  or  barrel.  The  opaque  shaft 
(vane),  or  ^^rachis,"  runs  as  a  continuation  of  this 
to  the  tip.  The  ^^ feathering"  branches  out  from 
the  shaft  on  two  not  quite  opposite  sides  in  num- 
erous lateral  shoots.  These  are  designated  as 
barbs  or  ^^rami."  They  appear  to  the  naked  eye 
to  be  long,  flat,  narrow,  and  solid,  like  the  petal  of 
a  daisy,  and  they  radiate  diagonally  from  the 
shaft,  one  above  the  other.  But  a  glance  through 
a  microscope  shows  each  barb  to  be  a  miniature 
feather,  with  shaft  and  tiny  lateral  filaments  of 
its  own,  resembling  the  plumed  antennae  of  a  Ce- 
•cropia  moth.  The  lateral  filaments,  termed 
*^barbules,"  interlock  with  the  barbs  above  and 
below  them,  being  fringed  with  a  series  of  minute 
hooks,  or  '^barbicels,"  which  act  as  fasteners. 
Thus,  a  tight,  compact  web  is  formed,  giving  the 
strength  to  the  feather  necessary  to  enable  it  to 
resist  the  pressure  of  the  air. 

If  a  split  occurs  in  the  webbing,  as  often  hap- 
pens when  the  bird  is  alive,  a  few  strokes  of  the 
bill  serve  to  readjust  the  barbicels  so  that  they 
will  renew  the  grip  they  have  lost.    A  person  also 


156    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

can  make  good  such  a  gap  by  delicately  manipu- 
lating the  separated  barbs  until  the  hooks  have 
once  more  caught.  It  is  thus  possible  to  mend  a 
very  ruined-looking  quill. 

The  external  body  feathers  of  a  bird,  including 
those  of  the  wing  and  tail,  are  as  a  rule  ''normal" 
in  character.  They  produce  the  quills  and  downs 
employed  in  the  upholstery  trade.  There  is  a 
very  wide  variation  between  them,  however,  and 
some  are  the  reverse  of  normal.  In  some  species 
the  feathers,  where  their  tips  have  been  exposed 
to  the  light  and  outer  air,  are  waxy  at  the  end  as 
if  they  had  been  dipped  into  colored  paraffin.  The 
plumes  of  the  ostrich,  bird  of  paradise,  and  in- 
numerable others,  lack  a  sufficiency  of  hooked 
barbules  to  give  them  firmness  and  therefore  are 
filmy  or  downy  in  character.  In  the  penguin  the 
wing  feathers  are  really  bristle-like  scales,  and  in 
the  wingless  Apteryx  of  New  Zealand  the  body 
feathers  resemble  hair.  And  the  nuptial  plumes 
of  the  famous  egret  are  merely  delicate  shafts 
with  a  sparse  scattering  of  long  hair-like  barbs. 
The  majority  of  birds,  however,  have  not  exceeded 
the  ''normal"  requirements  of  nature. 

Aside  from  these  body — or  "contour" — and 
flight  feathers,  there  are  two  unimportant  kinds 
still  to  be  found  on  the  average  bird.  The  "filo- 
plumes"  arise  as  a  scattering  of  long  hair-like 
filaments  beneath  the  main  body  covering.  They 
are  the  "hairs"  which  the  cook-books  demand  be 


ORNA^IENTAL  PLUMES  157 

singed  off  a  fowl  before  cooking.  Also  beneath 
the  contours  lie  the  so-called  '' downs/ ^  These 
must  not  be  confused  with  the  commercial  downs, 
which  consist  generally  of  the  normal  feathers  of 
the  'breast.  The  body  downs  have  no  shaft  and 
are  of  no  further  importance  here. 

It  also  is  quite  unnecessary  to  list  all  the  gor- 
geous colors  and  tints  that  are  assumed  by 
feathers.  They  are  to  be  found  in  a  study  of  the 
spectrum. 

While  all  feathers  contain  pigment,  it  does  not 
follow  that  all  bright-colored  feathers  are  filled 
with  brilliant  pigment.  On  the  contrary,  duU- 
pigmented  feathers  are  sometimes  of  the  most 
vivid  hue.  The  basic  coloring  matter  does  not 
always  show;  for  instance,  the  deep  green  of  a 
parrot  may  have  gray  or  yellow  as  its  foundation. 

There  are  three  sources  of  feather  coloring. 
The  first  and  most  general  is  the  direct  transmis- 
sion of  hue  from  the  pigment  originally  absorbed 
by  the  young  feather  during  its  growth.  In  other 
words,  these  feathers  may  be  red,  owing  to  red  pig- 
ment, or  black  because  of  black  pigment.  In  this 
list  come  reds,  blacks,  browns,  -and  some  yel- 
lows and  oranges,  but  rarely  green  and  never  blue 
or  the  metallic  tints.  These  last  are  all  chemically 
composed  and  may  be  extracted  by  means  of  re- 
agents. 

The  next  type  of  coloring  arises  from  a  combi- 
nation of  pigment  with  certain  structural  varia- 


158     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

tions  in  the  surface  of  the  feather.  The  varia- 
tions consist  of  minute  furrows  and  ridges  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  reflect  light  and  thus  alter  the  true 
tint  of  the  feather.  Purples  and  blues  fall  within 
this  class,  and  generally  green,  though  seldom  yel- 
low. By  eradicating  these  physical  irregnilarities 
through  soaking  in  water,  the  basic  color  is 
brought  out ;  but  the  feather  will  regain  its  abnor- 
mal hue  when  dried. 

The  third  type  is  found  in  the  iridescent  metal- 
lic tints.  These  beautiful  shades  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  structure  of  the  feather,  and 
pigment,  save  as  a  mirror  for  reflecting  light,  is 
in  no  way  concerned.  In  humming-birds,  pea- 
cocks, and  starlings, — birds  whose  feathers  appear 
bright  but  basically  are  not, — the  body  feathers 
are  covered  with  tiny  ridges,  knobs,  pits,  and  ex- 
crescences, which  tend  to  dissolve  light  into  its 
component  parts.  Added  to  these  are  reflecting 
pigmented  plates  so  arranged  as  to  give  forth  only 
prismatic  rays.  The  entire  combination  thus 
gives  to  the  birds  those  delicate  sheens  so  peculiar 
and  beautiful. 

2 

The  Rise  of  Ornamental  Plumes 

Ever  since  man  first  became  a  thinking  being 
he  has  fought  a  victorious  battle  with  wild  and 
savage  beasts.    Because  of  his  superior  cunning 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  159 

he  obtained  from  them,  first  food,  then  their  skins 
as  clothing.  Throughout  the  severe  \\dnters  he 
utilized  the  pelts  of  fur-bearing  animals  to  keep 
him  warm.  Where  beasts  were  scarce  and  sea- 
birds  plentiful,  he  used  the  skins  of  the  latter. 

This  use  of  bird  skins  has  continued  down  to  the 
present  day.  The  Indians  and  Eskimos  of  north- 
ern Canada,  Greenland,  and  Alaska,  the  natives 
of  Nova  Zembla,  and  the  wild  tribes  of  upper 
Siberia  slaughter  the  close-feathered  auks,  guille- 
mots, murres,  and  puffins  by  the  thousand  for  this 
purpose  alone.  So  important  are  the  skins  con- 
sidered for  clothing  that  a  special  clause  has  been 
inserted  in  the  international  migratory  bird  treaty 
between  Canada  and  the  United  States  making 
the  natives  immune  from  the  law  in  this  respect. 
The  Indians  also  are  inordinately  fond  of  decorat- 
ing themselves  and  their  weapons  with  bright- 
colored  or  striking-looking  feathers,  a  habit  not 
peculiar  to  them  alone  but  followed  by  most  un- 
civilized peoples. 

The  war  on  birds  for  their  ornamental  plumes 
was  well  under  way  before  the  dawn  of  civiliza- 
tion. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  an  artistic 
people  as  the  early  wall-painting  Cromagnards 
must  have  had  a  love  for  body  adornment  as  well 
as  for  highly  pigmented  pictures.  These  orna- 
ments must  naturally  have  been  the  gay-colored 
feathers  and  plumes  of  birds.  The  later  neolithic 
men  had  a  culture  resembling  that  of  many  of  our 


160    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

modern  savage  tribes.  Therefore,  they  too  must 
have  loved  feather  ornaments. 

Feathers  are  a  too  important  item  in  the  every- 
day life  of  a  savage  to  be  thought  lightly  of  by 
him.  They  are,  above  all,  necessary  to  guide 
arrows  straight.  They  may  be  incorporated  into 
head-dresses,  totems,  ju-ju,  tokens,  medicine, 
darts,  necklaces,  charms,  trinkets,  toys,  and 
feather  robes.  They  are  his  jewelry,  his  hand- 
wrought  lace,  and  his  tapestry  all  in  one.  As  his 
culture  broadens  he  becomes  more  skilled  in  their 
working.  Thus  the  art  of  weaving  feathers  into 
brilliant  tinted  robes  had  reached  a  high  level  in 
Central  and  South  America  during  the  time  of  the 
Aztecs  and  Incas,  while  the  robes  of  Hawaii  and 
the  Far  East  have  never  been  equalled  in  beauty 
anywhere. 

But  in  Europe,  with  the  coming  of  civilization, 
the  esthetic  value  of  feathers  seems  to  have  been 
forgotten  until  about  the  thirteenth  century.  In 
England  they  were  first  seen  on  the  queer  conical 
hats  worn  during  the  reigns  of  Edward  III  and 
Richard  II.  Later, — about  the  time  of  Henry 
V, —  they  were  initiated  as  a  part  of  the  military 
costume  in  the  form  of  hat  plumes.  The  custom 
of  wearing  plumes  then  rapidly  spread  to  the 
populace,  and  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
so  great  was  the  demand  for  plumes  that  the  milli- 
ners had  difficulty  in  maintaining  the  supply. 
At  that  date  enormous  prices  were  demanded  for 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  161 

the  better  types  of  ostrich-feathers  and  fabulous 
sums  were  paid  for  other  plumes. 

Until  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  feathers  for  orna- 
mental purposes  had  been  worn  by  men  only,  but 
now  they  began  to  appear  in  the  head-gear  of 
women.  Under  Elizabeth  they  became  a  fixed 
feminine  fashion,  a  fact  which  caused  their  im- 
mediate wane  as  a  component  of  masculine  attire. 
So  quickly  did  the  wearing  of  feathers  by  men  die 
out  that  by  the  close  of  the  next  reign  plumes  were 
relegated  to  the  military  only.  Henceforth  they 
were  to  be  worn  by  women  even  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day. 


Plume  Hunters 

Feathers  to  be  used  for  ornamental  purposes 
must  be  smooth,  clean,  and  fresh-looking.  They 
must  be  secured  from  the  bird  before  sufficient 
time  has  elapsed  to  become  frayed  and  worn  by 
continued  usage ;  in  other  words,  feathers  should 
be  taken  shortly  after  the  bird  has  completed  its 
molt.  Some  birds  molt  twice  a  year,  others  only 
once,  but,  whichever  may  be  the  case,  the  brightest 
plumage  is  assumed  during  the  mating  season. 
Most  plumes,  then,  are  secured  when  the  bird  has 
a  nest — a  fact  which  gives  rise  to  high  mortality 
among  the  young  of  the  species  through  starvation 
and  a  wholesale  destruction  of  eggs. 


162    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Before  discussing  plume  hunters  and  their 
methods,  however,  it  would  be  advisable  to  become 
familiar  with  the  objects  of  their  search — plumes 
and  skins.  The  word  ^  ^  plume '^  we  shall  take  in 
its  broadest  generic  sense  to  cover  all  bright, 
large,  and  fanciful-shaped  feathers  whose  individ- 
ual beauty  warrants  their  being  used  singly  to 
adorn  a  hat  or  gown.  Such  plumes  then  may  be 
the  long  scarlet  or  blue  tail-feathers  of  the 
macaws;  the  emerald  tail  of  the  quetzal  trogon; 
the  wing-  or  tail-feathers  of  any  large  hawk,  eagle, 
or  vulture ;  the  silky  plumes  of  the  bird  of  para- 
dise, the  ostrich,  or  rhea ;  the  smoky  tufts  of  the 
egret;  or  the  embroidered  crests  of  the  crowned 
pigeon.  They  may  be  assumed  in  the  mating 
season  by  the  males  to  react  upon  the  esthetic 
sensibilities  of  the  females,  or  they  may  be  worn 
by  both  sexes  alike;  it  does  not  matter  which. 
That  they  have  elegance,  grace,  and  beauty  which 
will  attract  the  eye  of  Fashion,  is  all  that  the 
plume  hunter  desires. 

Commercial  skins  as  a  rule  are  taken  from 
small  birds  which  will  appear  decorative  on  a  hat 
or  in  a  glass  case  when  stuffed.  To  be  of  the 
desired  sort  they  must  be  a  mass  of  vivid  color,  or 
snow-white  or  jet-black.  Within  this  list  fall  the 
gulls,  terns,  grebes,  fruit  pigeons,  kingfishers, 
parrots,  hummingbirds,  trogons,  jacamars,  sun- 
birds,  toucans,  larks,  thrushes,  wrens,  orioles, 
honey-creepers,  troupials,  and  tanagers.     Thus  it 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  163 

can  be  seen  that  virtually  all  birds  come  in  one 
way  or  another  under  the  scope  of  the  hunter  of 
plumage. 

Up  to  the  nineteenth  century  the  bulk  of  collect- 
ing was  undertaken  by  the  natives  of  the  regions 
where  the  birds  make  their  homes.  Although  the 
growth  of  their  population  was  held  in  check,  no 
species  were  exterminated.  The  traps,  the  blow- 
pipes, and  the  arrows  of  the  natives,  while  deadly, 
were  not  all-conquering,  and  the  plumage  birds 
held  their  own  in  numbers. 

Then  annual  fashions  became  an  institution  in 
the  civilized  world.  During  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  white  races  increased  tremendously  in 
population  both  in  Europe  and  America.  Busi- 
nesses multiplied  and  people  grew  rich.  As  they 
obtained  more  money  fashion  began  to  mean  more 
and  more  to  the  *^ unfashionable^^  public.  And 
fashion  declared  that  feathers  should  be  worn. 
The  cry  was  raised  that  there  were  not  enough 
plumes  to  go  around.  Then  it  was  that  *^  civil- 
ized'^  men  took  up  the  hunt. 

When  the  white  hunter  took  the  field  great 
rookeries  remained  all  over  the  world,  untouched 
as  yet  save  for  periodical  attacks  by  a  few  ill- 
armed  savages.  These  colonies  were  the  first  to 
suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  new  professional  plume 
hunter.  Armed  with  rapid-fire  breech-loading 
shot-guns  he  proceeded  to  his  work.  No  thought 
of  a  future  birdless  world  entered  his  mind.    The 


164    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

plumes  were  easy  to  obtain;  rookeries  of  ten 
thousand  gulls  or  egrets  could  be  exterminated  in 
a  single  season — and  were.  The  hunter  entered 
India,  Borneo,  South  America,  Africa,  every- 
where, and  ruthlessly  left  a  trail  of  dead  behind 
him.  The  natives,  encouraged  by  his  example,  in- 
creased their  own  activities.  Plume  hunting  paid 
well,  and  all  collectors  grew  rich. 

But  the  hunter  was  not  satisfied  merely  with 
the  ravaging  of  the  out-of-the-way  places  of  the 
earth.  The  market  demands  for  bright  feathers 
were  daily  growing.  Prices  were  high.  He  in- 
vaded his  own  home  territory.  Europe  and  the 
United  ^States  became  a  slaughter  ground  for  their 
native  birds. 

No  country  in  the  world  was  exempt  from  the 
ravages  of  the  trade.  Employment  was  afforded 
to  thousands  of  men.  Several  thousand  were  at 
the  work  of  slaughter  in  America  alone. 

On  one  occasion  fifty  boats  filled  with  collectors 
were  observed  in  the  harbor  of  New  York  in  a 
single  day  busy  shooting  gulls  and  terns.  A  man 
on  Long  Island  killed  eleven  thousand  terns  in  one 
season.  Seventy  thousand  skins  were  shipped  to 
New  York  from  that  island  in  four  months.  The 
gull  colony  of  Cobbs  Island,  Virginia,  was  vir- 
tually exterminated.  Fifty-five  million  birds  were 
slaughtered  for  millinery  purposes  in  the  United 
States  in  one  season — a  bird  for  every  two  per- 
sons   now    living    in    this    country!    And    the 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  165 

slaughter  continued  without  abatement  for  many 
years ! 

The  European  markets  are  still  glutted  with 
plumes  and  skins,  although  most  countries  forbid 
the  killing  of  their  own  birds  for  this  purpose. 
Before  the  war  England  alone  imported  more 
than  thirty-five  million  skins  a  year.  A  single 
invoice  of  hummingbird  skins  from  South 
America  has  totaled  as  high  as  four  hundred 
thousand.  In  1895,  upward  of  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  plumes  of  egrets  and  birds  of  para- 
dise were  sold  from  a  single  London  warehouse. 
Sixteen  years  later,  not  because  the  demand  was 
less  but  because  the  wild  birds  were  becoming 
scarce,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of 
these  plumes  were  sold  in  that  city  by  the  four 
leading  feather  dealers.  Virtually  all  the  coun- 
tries in  the  world,  save  those  in  Europe  and 
America,  sent  their  wares  to  the  London  market. 

IMPORTS  OF  FEATHERS  AND  DOWN 
ORNAMENTAL)  FOR  THE  YEAR  1910  ^ 

Pounds      Value 

Venezuela  8,398     $  191,058 

Brazil     787  5,999 

Japan     2,284  3,830 

China     6,329  16,308 

Tripoli  345  900 

1  Hornaday,  *'Oiir   Vanishing  Wild  Life." 


166    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Egypt    21,047  89,486 

Java,  Sumatra,  and 

Borneo 15,703  ,,  186,504 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 

(chiefly  ostrich)    709,406  9,747,146 

British  India 18,359  22,137 

Hong-Kong 310  3,090 

British  West  Indies 30  97 

Other  British  Colonies  . .    10,438  21,938 

Total    793,436  $10,288,493 

The  means  by  which  the  hunters  secured  their 
victims  were  in  most  cases  inhuman  and  revolt- 
ingly  cruel.  Picture,  for  instance,  a  small  sandy 
islet  scattered  over  with  thousands  of  nesting 
gulls.  Ever^^  few  feet  there  is  a  small  depression 
in  the  sand  in  which  lie  two  heavily  marked  eggs 
or  a  pair  of  nestlings,  little  speckled  puffs  of  down. 
The  feather  hunter  arrives.  Pleased  that  the 
g-ulls  are  nesting  and  therefore  will  be  easy  to 
kill,  he  goes  to  work.  Two  weeks  later  there  is  not 
a  living  thing  in  sight.  The  young  are  dead, — 
starved, — the  eggs  are  addled,  and  the  islet  is  a 
desert  of  bones. 

For  proof  that  such  a  picture  is  not  a  figment  of 
imagination,  we  can  take  the  tragedy  of  Laysan 
Island,  which  occurred  in  1909.  This  island,  a 
tiny  sand  patch  scarcely  two  miles  long  in  the 
heart  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  had  been  for  centuries 
a  paradise  for  the  albatross.     There  the  birds 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  167 

bred  in  tens  of  thousands,  crowded  as  close  as 
they  comfortably  could,  and  there  they  still  were 
when  the  feather  seeking  expedition  arrived  from 
Honolulu  in  the  spring  of  1909.  For  several 
months  the  slaughter  continued  until  a  stop  was 
put  to  it  by  the  United  States  revenue-cutter  The- 
tis, But  the  cutter  arrived  almost  too  late ;  more 
than  half  the  birds  on  the  island  had  been  killed. 
Three  hundred  thousand  albatrosses,  gulls,  terns, 
and  other  birds  had  already  been  butchered.  Lay- 
san  Island  was  indeed  a  desert  of  bones. 

And  the  inithless  methods  of  slaughter  are  not 
confined  to  sea-birds.  It  is  the  custom  to  shoot 
the  graceful  egrets  as  they  approach  their  nests. 
As  the  birds  skitter  helplessly  to  earth  they  are 
seized  by  the  hunters,  who  tear  the  patches  of 
skin  holding  the  lacy  plumes  from  their  backs 
before  the  birds  have  expired.  The  youngsters 
are  left  to  starve  in  their  nests  without  anv  atten- 
tion. 

The  crowned  pigeons  of  the  Papuan  and  Solo- 
mon islands,  from  the  heads  of  which  come  the 
commercial  goura  crests,  meet  with  a  similar  and 
if  possible  more  brutal  fate.  These  birds  are 
mainly  terrestrial  in  habit  and  are  poor  fliers. 
Instead  of  guns,  their  slayers  employ  clubs.  The 
birds  are  beaten  into  insensibility  and  their  crests 
torn  from  their  heads  while  thev  still  breathe; 
they  are  scalped  and  left  to  revive  if  they  can. 

Birds  of  paradise  have  a  better  chance  to  sur- 


168    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

vive  than  the  others.  The  plumes,  at  their  best 
in  the  breeding  season,  are  worn  only  by  the  males. 
The  females  therefore  go  unmolested  and  may 
rear  their  young  if  they  can  do  so  alone.  But  the 
demands  of  fashion  have  been  heavy  in  the  past, 
and  even  of  these  birds  several  species  have  be- 
come extinct. 

Ostriches  likewise  were  hunted  down  and  their 
numbers  thinned  to  the  verge  of  extermination 
for  the  sake  of  their  plumes.  An  end,  however, 
was  put  to  the  slaughter  by  the  discovery,  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  that  they  would  re- 
spond to  domestication.  On  the  other  hand,  their 
American  cousins,  the  rheas,  have  been  less  fortu- 
nate ;  their  extinction  is  now  in  sight  because  they 
have  not  the  amenability  of  the  ostrich  in  captiv- 
ity. Thousands  annually  are  killed  for  their  small 
plumes,  and  huge  stores  of  feathers,  baled  and 
ready  for  shipment,  accumulated  in  the  ware- 
houses of  Buenos  Aires  during  the  late  war. 

Again,  high  up  in  the  Andes,  it  is  still  a  prac- 
tice to  catch  great  condors — the  largest  birds  that 
fly — in  nets.  The  wing  and  tail  quills  are  pulled, 
together  with  a  few  soft  feathers  from  around  the 
neck,  and  the  bodies  are  tossed  aside  to  rot.  It  is 
said  that  condors  are  now  becoming  scarce. 

The  same  fate  has  attended  a  thousand  other 
species  whose  bright  colors  or  graceful  plumes 
have  fallen  under  the  eye  of   the  professional 


From  "Our  Vanishing  Wild  Life" 

ALMOST  EXTERMINATED  FOR  THE  PLUMAGE  TRADE 


BELTED    KINGFISHER 
VICTORIA    CROWXED    PIGEON 
SUPERB    CALLISTE 


GREATER    BIRD    OF    PARADISE 
COMMON    TERN 
COCK    OF    THE    ROCK 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  169 

feather   seeker.     They   too   have   grown   scarce. 
Will  all  birds  thus  fall  victim  to  fashion? 


The  Fall  of  Ornamental  Plumes 

Once  upon  a  time  an  ancient  Mexican  people 
built  great  cities  and  lined  them  with  gold.  They 
lived  in  the  radiance  of  countless  jewels,  enam- 
oured of  splendor  and  display.  Then  came  an 
army  of  stronger  fighters,  whose  greed  had  been 
aroused  by  sight  of  all  this  magnificence,  and  the 
ancient  race  was  defeated,  enslaved,  and  well-nigh 
exterminated.  As  with  the  Aztecs,  so  it  has  been 
with  the  birds.  Their  beauty  has  aroused  the 
greed  of  mankind,  and  they  have  suffered  in  con- 
sequence. 

But  their  suffering  is  drawing  to  a  close.  Men, 
before  it  was  too  late,  suddenly  realized  the  worth 
of  what  was  being  destroyed.  A  change  of  heart 
came  over  the  civilized  world.  Protection  in- 
stead of  destruction  is  now  the  popular  slogan. 

Forty-odd  years  ago  the  American  Ornitholo- 
gists' Union  and  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  opened  a  campaign  against  the 
feather  trade.  The  struggle  bade  fair  tc?  be  a 
bitter  one.  Scarcely  a  soul  in  this  great  popula- 
tion of  ours  seemed  to  realize  that  a  few  more 
years  of  promiscuous   slaughter  would  see  the 


170    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

final  extermination  of  all  our  birds.  The  A.  0.  U. 
and  the  Agricultural  Department  threw  them- 
selves into  the  breach  with  the  fury  of  despair. 

In  1886  the  Ornithologists'  Union,  which  was 
composed  of  men  who  had  spent  their  lives  study- 
ing and  compiling  statistics  on  the  actual  mone- 
tary value  of  birds,  drew  up  an  outline  for  a  law 
which  would  deal  with  the  protection  of  native 
birds.  This  was  submitted  to  the  various  States 
for  ratification.  Until  that  time  each  State  had 
had  a  code  of  its  own  to  limit  the  shooting  seasons, 
but  that  was  as  far  as  they  had  gone.  There  had 
been  no  attempt  anywhere  to  differentiate  scien- 
tifically between  the  game  and  non-game  birds. 
What  was  called  a  song-bird  in  one  State  might 
be  called  a  game-bird  in  another.  Neither  class 
had  any  universal  specific  grouping.  This  was  the 
condition  that  the  A.  0.  U.  strove  to  rectify. 

The  Audubon  Law,  as  it  was  called,  laid  down 
by  the  ornithologists,  gave  the  birds  a  correct  rat- 
ing as  seen  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  and 
offered  a  closed  season  on  all  species  that  could 
not  be  considered  true  game-birds.  The  law  was 
immediately  adopted  by  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts, in  the  year  it  was  drafted ;  but  so  slow 
were  the  majority  of  the  people  in  the  United 
States  in  grasping  its  significance  that  twenty- 
three  years  had  passed  before  the  remainder  of 
the  States  had  acted  upon  it. 

The  effect  of  the  new  law  on  birds  at  once  be- 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  171 

came  manifest  in  the  two  States  which  had  adopted 
it.  Long  Island,  instead  of  remaining  a  general 
slaughter-house  for  sea-birds,  resolved  itself  into 
a  gigantic  bird  reservation.  Although  in  past 
years  gulls  and  terns  had  been  virtually  extir- 
pated from  its  coasts,  they  began  once  more  to 
appear  in  great  numbers.  In  Massachusetts  the 
report  of  the  milliner's  gun  was  no  longer  heard. 
The  song-birds  lived  in  peace.  They  throve  and 
multiplied. 

But  there  was  one  great  weakness  to  the  new 
State  laws.  They  did  not  prohibit  the  importa- 
tion of  feathers  secured  abroad  or  within  the  bor- 
ders of  other  States.  Thus,  despite  the  advanced 
code  of  her  own  State,  New  York  City  still  was 
the  leading  center  of  the  plumage  traffic  in  Amer- 
ica !  In  the  late  nineties  the  feather  trade  reached 
its  high  level  in  that  city.  It  was  being  fed  from 
the  rookeries  of  Florida,  Virginia,  and  the  Caro- 
linas,  and,  unless  those  States  prohibited  the 
slaughter  and  export  of  their  birds,  nothing  more 
could  be  done  about  it. 

In  response  to  calls  for  help  from  the  A.  0.  U. 
and  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  bird  protec- 
tive associations,  known  as  Audubon  Societies, 
were  organized  throughout  the  country.  Under 
the  direction  of  their  founder,  William  Butcher, 
the  National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies 
fought  a  stubborn  battle  with  the  common  enemy, 
the  feather  dealers.     The  latter,  under  the  guisQ 


172    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

of  the  Millinery  Association,  fought  just  as  stub- 
bornly to  preserve  what  they  considered  their 
rights. 

The  struggle  swayed  back  and  forth  with  minor 
victories  on  both  sides.  Amendments  and  coun- 
ter-amendments were  submitted  to  the  various 
State  legislatures  and  even  to  Congress.  Investi- 
gation followed  investigation.  The  lobbyists  had 
full  innings. 

Then  the  protective  societies  hit  upon  the  plan 
which  finally  brought  permanent  victory  to  their 
banner.  A  campaign  of  education  was  begun. 
The  people  for  the  first  time  heard  the  story  of 
the  plume  hunters.  Newspapers  took  up  the  cry ; 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  issued  bulletins; 
and  thousands  of  instructive  pamphlets  were 
printed  and  spread  broadcast  by  the  Audubon 
Societies.  The  public  was  made  to  realize  at  last 
that  every  tern,  every  aigret,  and  every  pair  of 
wings  worn  for  the  sake  of  adornment  had  cost 
some  bird  its  life. 

The  question  of  feathers  to  be  worn  in  hats 
became  a  public  one.  Popular  indignation  once 
aroused  against  the  feather  trade,  there  was  noth- 
ing left  for  the  State  legislatures  to  do  except  act. 
This  was  what  the  protective  societies  had  aimed 
for.  Many  native  birds  which  hitherto  had  been 
neglected  by  the  law  suddenly  found  themselves 
on  the  protected  list.  States  enacted  laws  pro- 
hibiting the  killing  of  birds  for  their  plumage. 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  173 

Gradually  they  accepted  the  Audubon  Law,  and 
our  native  birds  took  a  new  lease  on  life. 

The  blow  to  the  milliners  was  heavy,  but  they 
stubbornly  maintained  the  battle.  The  continuous 
flow  of  skins  was  interrupted,  it  was  thought,  but 
not  disrupted.  The  future  would  show.  Some 
States  still  permitted  plume  hunting.  The  new 
law  in  others  would  soon  be  repealed.  But  it 
was  not.  Instead,  in  1900,  the  Lacy  Act  passed 
Congress  and  became  a  national  law.  By  it,  the 
transportation  from  State  to  State  of  the  skins 
and  plumes  so  necessary  to  the  dealers  was  for- 
bidden. The  dealers  capitulated.  The  war  with- 
in the  United  States  was  over. 

Although  defeated  in  one  direction,  the  Milli- 
nery Association  was  not  yet  ready  to  cry  quits. 
There  still  remained  the  import  trade  from  outside 
of  the  United  States.  If  our  native  birds  could 
not  be  destroyed,  then  all  others  must  suffer  in 
consequence.  The  demand  for  gouras,  birds  of 
paradise,  egrets,  and  all  foreign  birds  increased. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  were  brought  from  the 
East  and  millions  of  skins  from  South  America. 

The  protectionists,  having  gained  the  victory 
for  their  own  birds,  extended  their  efforts  to  pre- 
serve the  foreign  species.  Their  campaign  of 
propaganda  and  efforts  toward  legislation  were 
continued  without  let-up.  The  cause  now  was  for 
world-wide  humanitarianism  where  birds  were 
concerned.    And  after  thirteen  years  they  were 


174    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

again  greeted  with  victory.  Congress,  in  1913, 
enacted  a  tariff  act  prohibiting  the  importation 
into  the  United  States  of  any  skin,  plume,  or  plu- 
mage for  millinery  purposes  except  from  birds 
reared  in  domestication. 

When  they  discovered  that  there  was  no  way 
to  combat  the  tariff,  the  Millinery  Association 
gracefully  accepted  defeat.  Thereafter  they  ar- 
raigned themselves  on  the  side  of  protection. 
From  that  day  to  this  they  have  strictly  upheld  the 
law.  Through  their  own  efforts  several  flagrant 
cases  of  smuggling  have  been  prosecuted.  During 
the  feather  war  they  had  claimed  that  the  loss  of 
the  trade  would  throw  several  thousand  operatives 
out  of  employment.  With  the  passage  of  the  law, 
however,  the  operatives  began  to  manufacture 
artificial  feathers.  The  new  industry  is  now  in  a 
flourishing  state,  well  protected  because  of  the 
tariff. 

As  might  be  surmised,  there  has  been  a  large 
amount  of  smuggling  of  forbidden  plumes  since 
1913.  As  many  as*  1000  paradise  plumes  have 
been  seized  in  one  shipment.  Certain  unprin- 
cipled milliners  have  dealt  largely  in  contraband 
feathers,  protected  by  a  law  which  does  not  force 
them  to  prove  that  the  plumes  were  obtained  be- 
fore 1913.  Under  the  new  tariff  of  1922,  how- 
ever, the  burden  of  proof  is  thrown  entirely  upon 
the  dealer.  These  discreet  men  are  now  selling 
their  plumes  for  whatever  they  can  get.    Bird 


ORNAMENTAL  PLUMES  175 

of  paradise  plumes  and  gouras  are  going  for  a 
mere  song,  and  soon  they  will  be  gone  from  our 
markets  for  ever. 

In  Great  Britain  the  feather  war  was  even  more 
fiercely  contested  than  in  America,  and  was  more 
protracted.  Canada  had  followed  the  example 
of  the  United  States  in  1914,  but  the  milliners  of 
England  were  more  stubborn.  For  the  last  twenty 
years  a  bill  forbidding  the  importation  of  skins 
or  parts  of  skins  for  millinery  purposes  was  an- 
nually submitted  to  the  House  of  Commons.  And 
each  year  it  met  with  such  organized  opposition 
that  it  was  voted  down.  Both  parties  employed 
extensive  propaganda  and  the  conflict  proved 
bitter.  At  last,  however,  a  Plumage  Bill  was 
forced  through  in  1921,  which  created  a  committee 
to  pass  upon  imported  plumes.  The  first  work 
of  the  committee  was  to  prohibit  the  bringing 
in  of  virtually  all  feathers,  and  now  the  plumage 
trade  of  Great  Britain  is  almost  at  a  standstill. 

With  the  great  feather  markets  of  England  and 
America  closed  to  them,  the  business  of  plume 
hunting  is  drawing  to  a  rapid  close.  It  no  longer 
is  a  profitable  profession.  When  France  with- 
draws from  the  market,  as  she  is  expected  soon  to 
do,  the  collectors  will  lay  down  their  guns  once  for 
all.  But,  even  as  the  market  stands  to-day,  birds 
as  a  whole  are  assured  of  survival. 


CHAPTER  IX 


FEATHER   INDUSTRIES 


1.  Ostrich  Farming.  2.  ^lanufacture  of  Ostrich  Plumes.  3.  Non- 
existence of  Egret  Farms.  4.  Commercial  DoNvns  and  Their 
Uses,     5.  Minor   Feather   Industries. 

Ostrich  Farming 
1 

No  attempt  was  made  to  domesticate  the  Afri- 
can ostrich  before  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
The  birds  had  been  hunted  for  their  plumes  from 
immemorial  time,  captured  and  killed  by  every 
conceivable  means,  but  no  man  dreamed  that  they 
could  be  reduced  to  a  domestic  state. 

Although  the  ostrich  had  once  been  a  native  of 
western  Asia  as  well  as  Africa,  it  had  been  ex- 
terminated in  the  former  region  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era.  The  early  Egyp- 
tians utilized  its  plumes  in  much  the  same  way 
in  which  we  use  them  to-day.  Ostrich  eggs  have 
supplied  food  for  countless  thousands  of  African 
natives.  These  natives  made  head-dresses  from 
the  feathers  of  the  bird.  The  markets  of  Europe 
demanded  thousands  of  plumes.    Dressed  in  os- 

176 


T-  ~^       P 


c  > 


.«.^ 


L.Z 


>.     ? 


'^ff^fiitflf, 


if      z 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  177 

trich  skins,  the  natives  stalked  the  birds,  and  slew 
them  with  poison-tipped  arrows.  They  were 
snared  and  trapped,  and  ridden  down  on  horse- 
back. And  as  a  result  they  became  wary,  scarce, 
and  difficult  to  secure. 

The  natives  were  able  to  obtain  enough  plumes 
for  their  own  use,  but  Europe  went  begging.  As 
the  supply  decreased,  the  price  of  ostrich-feathers 
soared  to  unheard-of  heights.  White  men  took  up 
the  profession  of  ostrich  hunting,  but  met  with 
inditferent  success.  The  European  world  was 
faced  with  a  famine  in  plumes.  Then  it  w^s  that 
a  Dutch  settler  in  South  Africa  made  the  discov- 
ery that  ostriches  could  be  bred  on  a  commercial 
scale  in  captivity. 

The  first  serious  attempt  to  tame  the  birds  took 
place  in  1863,  but  several  years  elapsed  before 
eggs  could  be  hatched  and  chicks  reared  under  the 
care  of  man.  Once  the  fact  was  established,  how- 
ever, that  such  a  thing  was  possible,  ostrich  farm- 
ing took  a  boom.  The  value  of  plumes  was  higher 
than  ever. 

The  rearing  of  ostriches  soon  became  a  recog- 
nized industry  of  South  Africa.  Great  sums  of 
money  .began  to  be  realized  and  many  Boer 
farmers  grew  rich.  Within  twenty  years  after 
the  first  birds  had  been  domesticated  there  were 
nearly  a  third  of  a  million  of  them  in  the  colony. 
By  1913  the  number  of  ostriches  had  risen  to  ap- 
proximately nine  hundred  thousand,  with  an  an- 


178  ,  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

nual  production  of  a  million  pounds  of  feathers, 
worth  roughly  $13,500,000. 

In  many  respects  ostrich  farming  resembles 
poultry  raising.  The  eggs  are  incubated  by  one  of 
two  systems,  officially  termed  ^  ^  natural "  or  * '  arti- 
ficial.^^ In  the  former  method,  as  implied  by  its 
name,  the  eggs  are  hatched  by  the  birds  them- 
selves, just  as  they  are  in  the  wild  state.  The 
nest  consists  of  a  large  depression  in  the  ground 
scooped  out  by  the  breast-bone  of  the  bird.  Its 
construction  is  simple.  The  ostrich  merely  squats 
down,  with  its  breast  thrust  forward,  and  revolves 
slowly  until  a  hollow  of  the  required  size  is 
formed.  The  female  then  lays  an  egg  every  other 
day  until  the  clutch  of  twelve  or  fourteen  is  com- 
plete. The  eggs  are  heavy  and  large,  averaging 
about  three  and  a  half  pounds  apiece,  and  their 
contents  are  equivalent  to  about  thirty  chicken 
eggs.  The  male  performs  almost  the  entire  duty 
of  incubation.  If  the  sun  is  very  hot  the  eggs  are 
often  left  covered  during  the  day  with  a  thin  layer 
of  sand ;  if  the  weather  is  inauspicious  the  female 
rests  upon  the  eggs  from  nine  in  the  morning 
to  five  in  the  afternoon — not  a  minute  longer. 
The  male  sits  regularly  for  the  remaining  sixteen 
hours  of  the  twenty-four. 

But  the  natural  method  of  hatching  eggs  is  not 
the  most  economical,  and  has  virtually  everywhere 
been  displaced  by  the  artificial,  or  incubator,  sys- 
tem.    The  ostriches  are  allowed  to  excavate  a  nest 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  179 

and  deposit  their  eggs  there.  As  fast  as  the  eggs 
arrive  they  are  removed  from  the  nest,  a  proceed- 
ing which  causes  the  bird  to  lay  steadily  until 
perhaps  fifty,  sixty,  or  even  one  hundred  eggs 
have  been  produced,  instead  of  the  normal  baker 's 
dozen.  The  eggs  are  then  enclosed  in  specially 
constructed  incubators  and  maintained  at  a  tem- 
perature of  99  to  100°  F.  for  a  period  extending 
over  forty-two  days. 

The  chicks  are  already  the  size  of  ordinary  do- 
mestic fowls  when  they  emerge  from  their  thick 
shells ;  their  grayish  bodies  are  mottled  with  dark 
spots.  Growth  is  rapid, — nearly  one  foot  in 
height  a  month, — and  when  adult  size  is  reached 
their  heads  will  rear  seven  or  eight  feet  from  the 
ground.  By  that  time  they  weigh  three  or  four 
hundred  pounds.  At  four  years  of  age  they  com- 
mence to  breed. 

Commercial  ostrich-plumes  are  those  feathers 
which  sprout  from  the  tail  and  the  misshapen 
wings.  Each  wing  produces  forty-two  major 
quills,  a  number  which  is  never  exceeded,  though 
many  attempts  have  been  made  to  increase  it  by 
artificial  selection.  Plucking  commences  when  the 
birds  are  six  months  old.  The  feathers  then  are 
of  an  inferior  quality,  small,  and  termed  ^^  spa- 
donas^'  from  their  spear  shape.  It  is  the  prac- 
tice in  South  Africa  to  clip  the  birds  every  six 
months  thereafter,  both  sexes  producing  plumes. 

At  plucking  time  the  ostrich  is  driven  into  a 


180    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

V-shaped  pen,  where  a  hood  is  slipped  over  its 
head.  The  sudden  darkness  produces  a  docility  in 
the  bird,  which  may  then  be  handled  with  im- 
punity, without  fear  of  a  vicious  kick  from  one  of 
its  powerful  limbs.  Each  plume  is  separately 
examined,  and  those  wholly  opened  out  are 
clipped  off  with  a  pair  of  shears,  leaving  the  quill 
stubs  embedded  in  the  flesh.  Any  young  feathers 
not  fully  unfolded,  or  in  which  the  blood  still  flows, 
are  not  touched.  If  by  chance  they  should  be 
clipped,  the  fresh  feathers  which  later  replace 
them  will  most  likely  be  deformed,  a  condition 
not  at  all  desirable. 

The  operation  of  plucking  is  entirely  without 
pain  to  the  ostrich:  no  arteries  are  severed,  no 
nerve  is  injured;  the  dead  chitinous  barrel  of  the 
plume  alone  suffers.  Two  months  after  the  opera- 
tion the  quill  stubs,  now  replaced  by  young  blood- 
feather  shoots,  may  be  extracted  without  the 
slightest  notice  being  taken  by  the  bird. 

South  Africa,  however,  though  the  original  home 
of  the  ostrich  under  domestication,  is  no  longer  the 
sole  seat  of  that  industry.  Ostrich  farming  is 
nov^  practised  in  many  countries ;  in  various  parts 
of  Africa,  in  Argentina,  and  in  the  United  States. 
It  has  met  with  wide-spread  popularity  in  Egypt 
and  in  British  and  French  Nigeria,  and  the  Su- 
danese are  learning  more  modern  methods.  For 
centuries  the  Sudanese  have  reared  wild  caught 
chicks,  but  until  recently  they  have  made  no  at- 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  181 

tempt  to  breed  the  birds  in  captivity.  The  Ar- 
gentine farms  have  brought  wealth  to  their 
owners,  and  for  a  time  the  American  farms  were 
prosperous. 

Twenty-two  ostriches  were  introduced  into 
California  from  Cape  Town  in  1882,  to  form  a 
nucleus  for  the  industry  in  the  United  States. 
Forty-four  more  arrived  in  1890,  and  later — in 
1901 — twelve  Nubian  birds.  From  these  seventy- 
eight  birds,  then,  came  virtually  the  entire  Amer- 
ican stock  of  several  thousand. 

Success  followed  the  first  attempts  at  breeding. 
Within  a  few  years  thriving  farms  had  been  estab- 
lished in  California,  Arizona,  Arkansas,  North 
Carolina,  and  Florida.  By  1910  there  were  ap- 
proximately 6100  breeding  ostriches  in  the  United 
States.  Of  these  about  80  per  cent,  were  o^vned 
in  Arizona,  17  per  cent,  in  California,  2  per  cent, 
in  Arkansas,  and  the  remainder  in  the  other 
States.  A  breeding  pair  at  that  time  was  worth 
from  $700  to  $1000,  specially  fine  birds  sometimes 
bringing  that  much  apiece.  Young  ostriches  were 
less  valuable.  The  market  value  of  plumes  va- 
ried, but  in  good  years  from  thirty  to  fifty  dollars ' 
worth  of  feathers  would  be  produced  by  one  bird, 
and  as  high  as  ninety  dollars  by  exceptional  ones. 

It  is  the  custom  to  pluck  American  ostriches 
every  nine  months  instead  of  twice  a  year  as  in 
South  Africa.  About  a  pound  of  feathers  is  ob- 
tained at  a  clipping.     These  are  roughly  sorted 


1S2     THE  IMPORTAXCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

on  the  fann  and  shipped  in  bundles  of  one  hundred 
to  the  New  York  market. 

2 

Manufacture  of  Ostrich  Plumes 

Upon  arriving  at  the  factory  the  plume  bundles 
are  opened  and  the  feathers  are  tied  by  their 
stems  to  strings  in  pjiquets  of  three.  These  pi- 
quets undergo  washing  in  ordinaiy  soapsuds,  be- 
ing scrubbed  on  common  scnibbing-boards.  When 
clean  they  are  placed  for  several  hours  in  a  vat 
of  red  dye  maintained  at  a  temperature  of  150^ 
to  ISO-  F.  Then,  if  black  plumes  are  desired, 
they  are  immersed  in  black  dye  for  twenty-four 
hours. 

Dyeing  for  other  colors — pink,  orange,  light 
blue,  or  cardinal — consumes  less  time — generally 
not  more  than  an  hour.  When  the  proper  hue  is 
obtained  the  piquets  are  introduced  to  a  drying 
room  where  thev  bans:  for  six  hours  in  a  warm 
temperature.  They  are  next  thoroughly  threshed 
out  to  loosen  and  soften  the  webbing.  The  strings 
are  cut  away  from  the  piquets  and  the  feathers  are 
accurately  graded  according  to  size.  Trimming 
follows  and  finally  a  re-grade  as  to  excellence. 

Single  feathers  are  seldom  employed  as  plumes. 
Only  those  of  the  very  finest  quality  can  be  used 
alone  as  such,  and  they  of  course  fetch  the  highest 
prices.     The  majority  of  commercial  plumes  are 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  183 

developed  from  the  fragments  of  several  feathers, 
as  great  proficiency  has  been  attained  in  this  art 
by  the  feather  manufacturers.  A  good  feather  is 
selected  and  the  vane  is  pared  down  or  split  in 
two.  Other  feathers,  similarly  treated,  are  super- 
imposed upon  it  with  their  flattened  vanes  touch- 
ing. The  bundle  of  shafts  are  then  sewed  to- 
gether at  one-inch  intervals  and  ^'stemmed";  i.  e., 
a  wire  is  sewed  in.  An  average  *'made"  ostrich- 
plume  thus  is  composed  of  three  or  four  feathers, 
five  or  six  being  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
best  quality. 

After  the  sewing  is  concluded,  the  plumes  are 
curled  and  twisted.  The  latter  process  is  accom- 
plished by  manipulating  the  feathers  in  the  steam 
arising  from  an  ordinary  kettle.  When  they 
harden  they  will  retain  their  new  shape.  The 
curling  is  done  with  a  pair  of  curling-irons  simi- 
lar to  those  used  on  the  hair. 

. Despite  its  early  prosperity,  however,  the  time 

came  a  few  years  ago  when  ostrich  farming  re- 
ceived a  severe  set-back.  The  World  War  broke 
out  in  Europe.  Fashions  began  to  change  and 
ostrich-feathers  fell  into  disrepute.  They  were 
cast  aside  for  simpler  styles.  Gradually  the 
market  weakened,  then  broke. 

With  the  loss  of  a  market,  down  slid  the  feather 
industry  into  the  depths.  American  ostrich 
farmers  were  panic-stricken ;  there  was  no  longer 
a  sale  for  their  product.    The  tide  of  fashion  had 


184    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

set  away  from  them.  Birds  which  a  year  before 
had  brought  a  thousand  dollars  a  pair  now  w^ere 
eagerly  offered  for  one  tenth  of  that  sum — with 
no  buyers.  The  price  level  for  breeding  birds 
sank  to  twenty-five  and  thirty  dollars  apiece.  In 
desperation  the  farmers  killed  the  ostriches,  gave 
them  to  ^^zoos/'  did  everything  they  could  think 
of  to  rid  themselves  of  the  feed  bills  that  now 
threatened  to  swallow  the  profits  of  the  last  ten 
years.  By  1920  only  231  birds  were  recorded  as 
remaining  on  the  once  flourishing  ostrich-farms 
of  the  United  States.  The  curtain  of  the  industry 
had  rung  down. 


Non-Existence  of  Egret  Farms 

As  a  plume-bearing  bird  the  ostrich  stands  in  a 
unique  position;  it  is  the  only  one  which  has  re- 
sponded in  any  way  to  domestication.  A  wild 
creature  may  be  tamed  to  exhibit  no  sign  of  fear 
in  the  presence  of  men,  but  very  few  will  breed 
in  captivity.  The  **zoos''  are  filled  with  birds 
prized  for  their  plumage,  egrets,  birds  of  para- 
dise, crowned  pigeons,  and  a  score  of  others,  all  of 
which  seem  to  enjoy  life  in  a  large  cage,  but  they 
will  not  rear  young  there.  Thus,  so  far  as  their 
plumes  are  concerned,  these  birds  are  commercial 
nonentities.  And  for  that  very  reason,  because 
they  will  breed  only  in  the  wild  state,  have  they 


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EHI^HIHHH 

Courcesy  of  Dr.  W.  T.  Hornaday 

1050  PLUMES  OF  THE  BIRD  OF  PARADISE,  SEIZED  BY  THE  U.  S.  CUSTOMS  OFFICERS 


Courtesy  of  the 

N.  Y.  Zoological  Society 


Photograph  by 
Elwin  R.  Sanborn 


A    PAIR    OF    NUBIANS 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  185 

been  slaughtered  and  some  of  their  species  brought 
to  the  verge  of  extinction. 

Every  few  years  or  so  strange  stories  come  to 
our  ears  of  regions  where  there  are  egret  farms, 
where  the  birds  are  successfully  reared  for  their 
plumes  on  a  commercial  basis.  First  there  is 
such  a  farm  in  India ;  then  it  has  moved  to  Ven- 
ezuela, or  to  Egypt,  or  to  Brazil.  The  plumes  are 
said  to  be  clipped  from  the  backs  of  the  snowy 
birds  in  much  the  same  manner  that  feathers  are 
plucked  from  an  ostrich.  No  pain  or  flow  of  blood 
is  reported  to  attend  the  operation,  and  the  birds 
thrive  and  multiply  vigorously  under  the  influence 
of  domestication. 

Such  tales  are  pure  figments  of  the  imagination. 
An  egret  farm,  in  the  sense  implied,  has  never  ex- 
isted and  never  will.  It  cannot.  The  birds  do 
not  breed  freely  in  captivity.  In  fact  there  is 
only  one  possible  record  of  a  pair  rearing  young  in 
a  ^^zoo,'^  and  there  have  been  thousands  main- 
tained in  ** zoos''  during  the  last  hundred  years. 

The  stories  have  persisted,  however.  They  are 
warped  translations  of  the  truth  enlarged  upon 
by  plume  hunters  and  those  who  are  interested  in 
seeing  the  plumage  trade  revive.  A  few  rooker- 
ies exist  in  southern  Brazil  where  great  quantities 
of  cast-off  plumes  may  be  picked  up  near  the  de- 
serted nests  at  the  close  of  the  breeding  season. 
But  these  are  fragmentary,  frayed,  and  worn  bits 
of  feathers,  of  little  or  no  commercial  value. 


186     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Again,  certain  landowners  in  Venezuela  make 
a  practice  of  leasing  out  the  shooting  privileges  of 
their  property  to  feather  hunters.  The  egrets 
are  not  farmed.  They  are  shot  and  killed  in  the 
breeding  season  for  their  plumes  just  as  thou- 
sands have  been  shot  and  killed  elsewhere.  The 
plumes  are  torn  from  the  backs  of  dead  birds, 
not  clipped  from  live  ones  or  picked  up  in  the 
muddy  lagoons  and  marshes.  Egret  farming,  as 
a  commercial  venture,  does  not  exist. 


Commercial  Downs  and  Their  Uses 

Although  the  market  for  ornamental  plumes 
has  now  shrunk  into  insignificance,  there  are  cer- 
tain other  types  of  feathers  which  always  will  have 
great  commercial  value.  These  are  the  upholstery 
feathers,  the  do^vns  of  commerce  which  go  to  fill 
mattresses,  pillows,  and  quilts.  Only  the  small 
breast  feathers  of  the  duck,  goose,  and  swan  were 
utilized  in  former  times,  but  to-day,  so  populous 
has  grown  the  world  and  so  insistent  is  it  upon 
household  comforts,  enormous  quantities  of 
feathers  from  the  barn-yard  fowl  are  used.  These 
last,  however,  are  employed  in  making  mattresses 
and  low-grade  pillows,  whereas  other  downs, 
especially  down  from  the  eider-duck,  go  intc)  the 
lighter  quilts  and  pillows. 

About  a  century  and  a  half  ago  great  multitudes 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  187 

of  eider  and  other  down-bearing  sea-ducks  existed 
along  the  northeastern  coast  of  North  America. 
So  numerous  were  the  birds  that  they  drifted  in 
enormous  *^ rafts/'  some  a  hundred  acres  in  extent 
with  several  thousand  ducks  crowded  into  an  acre, 
not  far  from  the  coast  of  Labrador,  which  was 
their  home.  And  during  the  months  of  July  and 
August  they  drifted  helplessly,  quite  unable  to  fly. 
These  months  were  their  molting  season.  Unlike 
most  other  birds,  ducks  molt  all  their  flight  feath- 
ers at  once,  and  thus  can  escape  from  their  ene- 
mies only  by  the  speed  of  their  swimming. 

Wonderful  tales  were  brought  back  to  the  colo- 
nies by  whalers  and  sealers  of  these  helpless 
**•  rafts''  and  the  ease  by  which  the  birds  could 
be  taken.  The  northern  waters  were  reported 
a's  being  so  strewn  with  discarded  feathers  that 
the  contents  of  all  the  feather-beds  in  the  world 
might  have  been  scattered  there.  The  ducks  were 
powerless  to  escape,  and  their  crippled  condition 
invited  attack. 

It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  the  American 
colonists  took  quick  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
to  reline  their  bed-sacks.  Massachusetts  became 
the  center  of  a  young  but  thriving  feather  indus- 
try. Enterprising  merchants  chartered  ships  to 
send  north  after  the  drifting  multitudes.  Dozens 
of  vessels  spent  each  summer  cruising  off  the 
Labrador  coast. 

^^ Feather"  voyages  proved  profitable  undertak- 


188    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ings  to  every  one  concerned  but  the  ducks.  Upon 
a  cry  from  the  masthead  that  ducks  were  in  sight, 
the  nose  of  the  vessel  would  be  turned  toward  the 
ill-fated  ^^raft.'*  When  close  enough,  tha  bow 
would  shoot  into  the  wind,  and  there  would  follow 
the  splash  of  a  number  of  small  boats  taking  to 
the  water.  There  could  be  no  escape  for  the  vic- 
tims— scoters,  eiders,  and  Labrador  ducks;  they 
were  surrounded,  raked  by  small  cannons  loaded 
to  the  muzzle  with  fine  shot,  clubbed  to  death  with 
oars,  and  netted  by  the  ton  in  large  fish  seines. 
Ten  thousand  could  be  slaughtered  in  a  day  by  the 
crew  of  one  vessel.  The  small  feathers  were 
stripped  from,  their  breasts  and  the  bodies  were 
tossed  overboard  to  feed  the  fish.  Untold  millions 
met  death  in  this  way  within  the  span  of  a  very 
few  decades. 

There  of  course  could  be  only  one  outcome  to 
this  promiscuous  slaughter.  The  great  flocks 
were  broken  up ;  the  birds  were  scattered  and  ex- 
terminated. Eider-ducks  became  a  rarity  along 
the  American  coast;  by  1878  the  Labrador  duck 
wsas  entirely  extinct ;  ^  and  the  scoters  alone  re- 
mained. Before  the  opening  of  the  last  century 
^ ^feather"  voyages  had  been  discontinued  as  un- 
profitable. The  hundred-acre  ^  ^  rafts  ^^  were  gone 
forever. 

A  word  now  concerning  eider-down.    For  its 

1  The  last  recorded  living  specimen  of  that  species  was  shot  in 
1878. 


•  FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  189 

bulk  it  is  one  of  the  lightest  commercial  substances 
known,  having  been  utilized  for  thousands  of  years, 
first  by  savages  and  then  by  civilized  men,  in  bed 
making  and  the  manufacture  of  winter  clothing. 
It  is  so  elastic  and  firm  that  a  quantity  which  when 
compressed  might  be  covered  with  two  hands  will 
serve  to  stuff  an  ordinai;y  quilt.  In  softness  it 
is  far  superior  to  all  other  downs. 

Eider-ducks  inhabit  most  northerly  regions, 
seldom  traveling  farther  south  in  winter  than  the 
edge  of  the  ice-cap.  They  are  still  plentiful  along 
the  coast  of  Norway,  at  Nova  Zembla,  in  the  Shet- 
land, Orkney,  and  Faroe  islands;  and  Iceland  is 
the  home  of  hundreds  of  thousands. 

Although  they  have  been  severely  treated  and 
virtually  annihilated  on  the  Labrador  coast,  eider- 
ducks  have  been  protected  in  other  regions  and  in 
some  localities  have  become  partly  tame.  Such 
is  the  case  in  Iceland,  where  they  form  a  means  of 
livelihood  for  thousands  of  people.  The  eggs 
are  rich  in  food  constituents  and  palatable;  the 
flesh  is  edible;  the  down  is  a  source  of  income; 
and  the  skins,  with  the  feather  side  turned  in, 
constitute  warm  undergarments  which  protect  the 
human  body  from  the  rigors  of  a  cold  winter. 
Eider-ducks,  therefore,  are  one  of  the  chief  eco- 
nomic resources  of  Iceland.  The  birds  are 
guarded  there  as  carefully  as  if  they  were  domesti- 
cated fowl,  and  the  island  is  famous  the  world  over 
for  its  eider-down  industry. 


190    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

The  finest  down  is  obtained  from  the  bodies  of 
living  birds,  the  feathers  of  dead  birds  being  of 
inferior  quality  because  of  the  loss  of  a  certain 
softness  and  elasticity.  The  plucking  is  not  done 
by  hand,  but  by  the  birds  themselves  during  the 
nesting  season.  The  nest  consists  of  a  low  struc- 
ture of  seaweed,  lined  with  the  soft  feathers  pulled 
by  the  female  from  her  breast,  and  in  this  down 
are  buried  the  four  or  five  large  pale-green  eggs. 

When  the  entire  clutch  has  been  laid,  the  down 
hunter  cautiously  approaches  the  sitting  bird. 
If  she  fails  to  depart  of  her  own  accord,  he  care- 
fully removes  her  and  helps  himself  to  all  the  down 
and  all  but  one  egg.  Upon  returning  to  the  nest, 
which  she  will  not  discard  because  of  the  remain- 
ing egg  there,  the  fem^ale  deposits  a  second  clutch, 
having  first,  however,  relined  the  cavity.  This 
again  is  despoiled. 

Although  by  this  time  the  breast  of  the  duck  is 
almost  depleted  of  feathering,  she  does  not  appear 
in  the  least  discouraged.  By  hook  or  crook  she 
manages  to  glean  a  third  covering  of  down  for  the 
third  clutdi  and  settles  comfortably  to  hatch  the 
eggs.  The  down  hunter  arrives  on  the  scene. 
He  is  now  more  circumspect  in  his  actions.  He 
takes  a  peek  at  the  denuded  breast  of  the  bird, 
examines  the  quality  of  the  down  covering  the 
eggs,  and  decides  whether  she  can  stand  a  fourth 
plucking.  If  not,  the  nest  is  left  undisturbed 
until  the  eggs  are  hatched  and  the  ducklings  have 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  191 

departed.  Then  the  inferior  down  is  gathered  and 
cleaned.  And  all  through  the  nesting  season  the 
drake  duck  swims  placidly  out  in  the  offing,  eat- 
ing, sleeping,  and  preening  his  feathers,  quite  ob- 
livious of  the  tribulations  of  his  mate.  The 
feathers  on  his  breast  remain  intact. 

The  eider-ducks  of  Iceland  have  grown  so  used 
to  the  presence  of  people  near  their  breeding 
grounds  that  they  will  recognize  the  men  who 
tend  their  nests.  They  dislike  strangers,  but  will 
go  so  far  as  to  allow  themselves  to  be  handled  by 
those  whom  they  know.  The  Icelanders  treat 
them  with  the  gentlest  care,  constructing  artificial 
nests  and  warding  off  danger  when  possible.  The 
birds  return  each  year  to  the  same  spot  and  will 
breed  in  the  close  vicinity  of  buildings.  Some 
have  even  been  known  to  rear  their  broods  on  the 
turf  roofs  of  inhabited  cottages.  By  kindness  and 
care  they  h.ave  been  led  into  a  state  of  semi-do- 
mestication. 

But,  as  has  already  been  mentioned,  eider-ducks 
are  not  responsible  for  all  commercial  down.  So 
great  is  the  demand  for  this  substance  that  they, 
in  truth,  are  able  to  supply  only  a  very  small 
fraction.  The  downs  ranking  next  in  quality  are 
those  obtained  from  the  goose  and  swan,  the 
former  bird  producing  thousands  of  tons  annually 
throughout  the  world. 

As  with  eider-ducks,  the  feathers  from  live 
geese  make  the  best  down,  and  as  the  geese  do 


192    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

not  line  their  nests,  they  have  to  be  plucked  by 
hand.  It  has  been  the  custom  for  thousands  of 
years  in  Europe  to  rear  geese  solely  for  their 
feathers,  and  the  peasants  derive  a  considerable 
income  from  this  source.  Some  goose  farms  con- 
tain thousands  of  birds,  the  plucking  of  whicli 
takes  place  &ve  times  a  year. 

While  the  plucking  of  live  geese  continues  to  a 
lesser  extent  to-day  than  it  did  a  hundred  years 
ago,  it  is  still  done  on  a  large  scale,  particularly 
in  Europe.  The  birds,  however,  are  now  more 
generally  reared  for  the  food  market,  and,  despite 
its  inferior  quality,  the  bulk  of  goose-down  is 
derived  from  the  bodies  of  these.  The  duck  and 
goose  farms  of  the  middle  United  States  thus 
annually  supply  the  upholstery  industry  with  hun- 
dreds of  tons  of  feathers  as  one  of  their  by-prod- 
ucts. In  the  same  way  the  poultry  farms  find  a 
ready  market  for  the  pickings  of  the  fowl. 

Before  they  can  be  used,  all  down  feathers  have 
to  undergo  a  cleaning  process,  first  to  free  them 
of  foreign  matter  and  second  to  extract  any  greasy 
substance  which  may  remain  and  which  might 
cause  an  offensive  odor.  In  chicken  feathers  only 
the  barbs  are  utilized,  the  feathering  being 
stripped  from  the  shafts  and  the  shafts  dis- 
carded. This  type  of  down,  because  of  its  lack 
of  springiness,  is  employed  mainly  in  making 
mattresses. 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  193 


Minor  Feather  Industries 

Aside  from  the  downs  and  ornamental  plumes, 
there  are  still  other  uses  to  which  feathers  are  put 
which  have  a  considerable  commercial  status. 
Although  their  bulk  is  small  when  compared  to  the 
upholstery  downs,  the  industries  for  which  they 
form  a  necessary  adjunct  are  numerous. 

Until  the  appearance  of  steel  pens,  quills  were 
the  only  implements  that  could  be  utilized  for 
writing,  if,  of  course,  we  except  the  fine  brushes 
of  the  Far  East.  Their  day  extended  from  the 
sixth  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  even  now  quill  penholders  with  steel  nibs 
have  a  certain  popularity.  In  former  times,  how- 
ever, when  feathers  were  the  only  pens,  their 
quality  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  writer,  and  great  care  and  forethought  were 
given  to  their  selection.  Feathers  of  the  crow, 
turkey,  eagle,  or  hawk  served  the  purpose  well, 
but  the  best  quills  came  from  the  wings  of  geese. 
The  left  wing  only  was  depleted,  those  feathers 
curving  outward  and  away  from  the  writer,  and 
only  the  outer  "QYe  flight  quills  were  taken.  Of 
these  the  second  and  third  were  considered  the 
best. 

The  plucking  was  done  in  the  spring,  at  the  com- 


194     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

pletion  of  the  molt,  but  before  the  feathers  had 
time  to  become  frayed  by  usage.  The  barrel  of 
the  shaft  was  softened  in  a  sand-bath  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  130°  to  180°  F.  and  immediately  scraped 
clean  under  pressure.  The  outer  skin  was  then 
easily  removed,  the  inner  shriveled  up,  and  the 
shaft  was  freed  of  all  greasy  material.  While  it 
was  still  hot  and  soft,  names,  trade-marks,  or 
ornamentations  could  be  stamped  upon  it.  This 
process  is  still  used. 

In  the  manufacture  of  feather  dusters  the  wing- 
and  tail-feathers  of  turkeys  and  other  domestic 
fowls  are  utilized.  A  superior  quality  of  duster 
has  been  developed  from  the  feathers  of  the 
American  ostrich. 

Again,  feathers  are  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
Chinese  and  French  feather  flowers,  artificial 
butterflies,  various  toys,  darts,  camel-hair  brush- 
holders,  toothpicks,  and  fishing  flies.  While  in- 
dividually these  minor  industries  are  unimpor- 
tant, collectively  they  represent  an  added  inter- 
est to  the  commercial  world  of  a  great  many  mil- 
lion dollars. 

And  when  we  consider  as  one  the  plumage  deal- 
ers, the  ostrich  farmers  all  over  the  world,  the 
eider-down  hunters  of  Iceland  and  elsewhere,  the 
plume  manufacturers,  the  upholsterers,  and  the 
people  employed  in  the  minor  feather  industries, 
we  have  no  inconsiderable  list.    It  is  not  difficult 


FEATHER  INDUSTRIES  195 

to  conceive  that  the  feather  business,  in  one  form 
or  another,  plays  a  well-defined  part  in  the  trade 
economics  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  X 


GUANO 

1.  Where  Found.  2.  Guano  Birds.  S.  Historical  Significance 
of  Guano.  4.  The  Search  for  Guano  by  the  United  States. 
5.  Peruvian  Guano. 


Where  Found 

The  name  ** guano'*  is  applied  by  farmers  to 
any  commercial  fertilizer  which  contains  a  bal- 
anced ration  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and 
potash  for  growing  crops.  In  the  stricter  no- 
menclature of  fertilizers  guano  is  a  highly  nitro- 
genous material  containing  animal  matter,  which 
when  broken  down  by  contact  with  the  soil  makes 
available  the  necessary  chemicals  for  plant  growth. 
For  example,  thousands  of  tons  of  dried  and 
ground  fish  are  annually  produced  for  fertilizer 
under  the  title  of  guano  by  the  menhaden  fisheries 
on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States. 

But  **  guano, '*  in  its  true  meaning,  can  only  be 
applied  to  excrement,  and  mainly  to  that  of  birds.. 
Small  amounts  are  from  time  to  time  discovered 
in  caves  where  the  droppings  of  bats  have  accu- 
mulated to  form  a  thin  layer  on  the  floor,  but 

]96 


GUANO  197 

this  guano  is  of  little  economic  importance.  By 
far  the  greater  bulk  of  the  material  is  produced  in 
the  great  rookeries  of  sea-birds  which  here  and 
there  dot  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

Some  of  these  rookeries  no  longer  exist,  for  the 
birds  changed  their  breeding-ground  perhaps  a 
thousand  years  ago,  but  their  excreta  remain  in 
thick  beds  many  feet  deep.  Here,  after  centuries 
of  leaching,  the  nitrates  have  gathered  in  large 
pockets  in  the  form  of  crystals,  or  what  is  better 
known  as  saltpeter.  In  Chile  and  Peru  there  are 
enormous  accumulations  of  these  nitrates,  com- 
mercially termed  Chile  saltpeter,  which  are  noth- 
ing more  than  ancient  guano  deposits  altered  by 
time  and  the  elements. 

Although  excrement  is  the  basic  element  of 
guano,  dead  fish,  dead  birds,  rotten  seaweed,  and 
all  the  refuse  which  accumulates  about  a  rookery 
are  included  in  its  make-up.  Together  these  make 
an  evil-smelling  compound,  but  one  highly  bene- 
ficial to  plant  life  when  applied  to  the  soil. 

The  fresh  product  is  naturally  high  in  soluble 
minerals.  If  laid  down  in  a  region  of  moist  cli- 
mate, constant  leaching  follows,  causing  it  to 
lose  much  in  valuable  fertilizing  compounds.  The 
potash  and  phosphoric  acid,  being  already  in  a 
soluble  state,  are  dissolved  off  by  rain-water,  and 
the  presence  of  lime  leads  to  a  decomposition  of 
the  organic  material  and  a  subsequent  release  of 
nitrogen  in  the  character  of  ammonia.     Therefore, 


198     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

only  guano  from  arid,  rainless  localities  retains 
full  strength  for  any  prolonged  period  of  time 
and  is  accounted  as  the  best  quality  of  fertilizer. 

The  dry  coast  of  Peru  is  perhaps  the  most 
ideally  situated  region  in  the  world  for  the  pro- 
duction and  preservation  of  the  raw  material.  In 
addition  to  an  abundance  of  food  for  the  sea- 
birds  in  the  ocean  currents  which  sweep  the  coast, 
some  sections  have  virtually  no  rainfall,  others 
less  than  an  inch  per  annum.  A  few  miles  off 
the  lower  central  part  of  the  coast  rise  three  small 
rocky  islets,  known  as  the  Chincha  Islands,  which 
are  the  home  of  millions  of  guano-producing  birds. 
Rain  is  almost  an  unheard  of  phenomenon,  and 
the  guano  accumulated  there  in  an  absolutely  pure 
state  for  many  centuries.  Farther  north  lie  other 
islands,  the  Lobos  group,  which,  though  situated 
in  a  slightly  damper  climate,  are  also  famed  for 
their  deposits.  It  was  from  these  two  groups  that 
for  many  years  came  the  world's  main  supply  of 
natural  guano. 

But  Chile  and  Peru  are  not  the  only  countries 
in  the  world  where  guano,  or  its  products,  are  ob- 
tained. It  is  found  in  lesser  quantities  on  the 
coasts  of  Venezuela,  Colombia,  and  Ecuador. 
The  West  Indies  have  produced  a  small  amount. 
Shark  Bay  and  'Swan  Island  have  supplied  some 
to  Australia.  There  are  deposits  on  many  islands 
in  the  Pacific.  Guano  is  also  found  in  Algoa  and 
Saldanha  bays  near  Cape  Colony,  on  Ascension 


GUANO  199 

and  Ichaboe  islands  off  the  west  coast  of  Africa, 
and  at  Kuria  Muria  in  Arabia.  Low-graded  de- 
posits have  been  found  elsewhere. 


Guano  Birds 

Before  dicussing  fully  the  merits  and  historical 
significance  of  guano,  we  had  better  inquire  more 
thoroughly  into  its  origin.  As  the  Chincha  Is- 
lands are  the  most  important  source  of  the  prod- 
uct, we  shall  take  as  an  example  the  conditions 
there  met  with. 

A  few  leagues  off  the  Peruvian  coast  a  great 
ocean  current  sweeps  north,  bearing  with  it  im- 
mense schools  of  small  fish  termed  anchovies,  and 
countless  myriads  of  tiny  shrimp-like  crustaceans. 
Between  the  current  and  the  mainland  stand  the 
three  rocky  Chinchas,  where  are  congregated  one 
of  the  most  formidable  arrays  of  birds  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  They  are  mainly  cormorants, 
gannets,  and  pelicans,  mth  a  sprinkling  of  jack- 
ass-penguins, gulls,  and  skuas.  These  move  over 
the  water  in  swift-changing  clouds,  darting,  plung- 
ing, and  hovering  incessantly,  or  resting  on  the 
water  in  great  rafts  which  stretch  into  the  dis- 
tance. 

The  fish  are  the  attraction,  and  all  day  long  the 
birds  pursue  them  until,  gorged  and  logy,  they 
finally  fly  on  heavy  beating  wings  back  to  the 


200     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

cliffs  which  are  their  home.  The  performance  is 
repeated  daily  throughout  the  year,  and  daily  tons 
of  fish  are  consumed ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  end 
to  the  anchovies.  Despite  the  steady  inroads 
upon  their  hosts  they  are  as  plentiful  now  as  they 
were  a  thousand  years  ago. 

Only  four  species  of  birds  are  responsible  for 
the  main  deposition  of  guano.  Of  these  the  cor- 
morants, or,  as  they  are  locally  named,  guanayes, 
are  by  far  the  most  numerous.  Their  rookeries 
lie  like  great  dark  shadows  of  immovable  clouds 
on  the  sloping  expanses  of  rock  whitened  with 
chalky  guano.  The  nests  occur  in  the  ratio  of 
about  three  to  the  square  meter,  a  single  rookery 
often  covering  as  much  as  a  hundred  acres. 

The  nests  are  merely  slight  depressions  in  the 
guano  layer  which  overlies  the  rocks,  and  each 
contains  a  pair  of  young  who  have  to  be  fed. 
This  necessitates  a  continual  flight  of  parent  birds 
to  and  from  the  ocean,  a  never-ending  stream  of 
hurriedly  moving  bodies.  The  young  gobble  what 
fish  are  brought,  leaving  the  residue  which  they 
cannot  swallow  to  rot  on  the  ever-growing  walls  of 
refuse  that  surround  the  nest  cavity.  Daily  these 
ramparts  mount  higher.  Each  bird  of  the  family 
contributes  its  share,  mother,  father,  and  off- 
spring. Excrement  is  also  plentifully  distributed 
on  the  floor  of  the  home;  it  is  trampled  down, 
and  the  level  of  the  nest  rises  higher.  Gradually 
a  fresh  layer  of  guano  forms  over  the  rookery 


GUANO  201 

area.  It  is  estimated  that  each  bird  annually  adds 
the  worth  of  about  a  dollar  and  a  half  as  its  share. 

Second  in  importance  to  the  cormorant  as  a 
guano  producer  stands  the  pelican,  termed  alca- 
traz.  This  bird  unfortunately  prefers  the  more 
humid  northern  islands  of  Peru,  and  its  product, 
when  gathered,  is  therefore  of  poorer  quality.  It 
is  excitable  by  nature  and  inclined  to  resent  the 
extraction  of  guano  from  its  rookery,  and  for 
that  reason,  in  former  days  of  wholesale  depletion 
of  the  beds,  it  greatly  fell  off  in  population.  Now, 
however,  under  scientific  conservation  of  the  guano 
and  close  protection,  it  is  regaining  the  numbers 
once  lost  and  bids  soon  to  play  a  more  important 
part  in  production  than  ever  before. 

The  piquero,  or  gannet,  stands  third  in  impor- 
tance on  the  list.  Although  these  birds  make  nu- 
merically an  enormous  showing  they  have  an  un- 
fortunate habit  of  nesting  on  cliffs,  with  the  result 
that  a  considerable  portion  of  their  product  falls 
into  the  sea  and  is  lost.  By  the  construction  of 
shelves,  however,  much  of  this  decrement  is  now 
saved.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  annual  loss  still 
can  be  estimated  in  thousands  of  tons.  The  birds 
leave  twice  as  much  excreta  around  their  nests  as 
do  the  cormorants. 

The  fourth  guano  producer  also  is  a  species  of 
gannet,  the  booby.  Like  the  pelican  it  prefers 
the  northern  islands  and  hence  plays  but  a  small 
part  in  the  Chincha  group.     It  is  a  big  producer, 


202     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

however,  and  in  the  Lobos  its  numbers  have  in- 
creased enormously  under  protection. 


Historical  Significance  of  Guano 

The  first  available  kno-wledge  of  guano  being 
utilized  as  a  fertilizer  comes  down  to  us  from  the 
legends  of  the  early  Incas  of  Peru.  The  then 
apparently  exhaustless  beds  of  the  Chinchas  were 
worked  at  that  time,  and  the  plantations  of  the 
Incas  throve  under  the  impetus  given  the  crops 
by  the  manure.  So  valuable  did  the  Indians  con- 
sider the  deposits  that  the  penalty  of  death  was 
imposed  upon  any  one  caught  destro}"ing  guano- 
producing  birds. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniard  the  great  Inca 
Empire  was  shattered.  The  natives  were  con- 
quered, their  fields  despoiled,  and  as  slaves  they 
were  driven  to  the  mines.  The  Spaniard  wasted 
no  thought  on  paltry  fertilizer;  his  eyes*  were 
sharpened  only  for  a  sight  of  that  glowing  metal, 
gold.  From  the  saltpeter  beds  he  manufactured 
gunpowder  with  which  to  advance  his  conquests, 
but  of  guano  he  had  no  knowledge — or  inclination 
to  use  that  knowledge,  if  he  had  it.  He  was  a  war- 
rior, not  a  guano  burrower.  To  him  the  Indians 
were  God-sent  slaves  especially  created  to  labor  in 
the  mines,  not  to  pass  the  time  on  the  -filthy  Chin- 
chas. 


GUANO  203 

Thus  the  islands  stood  for  three  centuries  after 
the  coming  of  the  white  man,  buried  beneath  a 
hundred-foot  blanket  of  guano,  the  true  riches  of 
Manoa,  neglected  and  disregarded.  Then,  with 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  world 
suddenly  realized  the  true  worth  of  what  for  so 
long  had  merely  awaited  the  wielding  of  a  pick 
and  shovel. 

The  first  specimens  of  guano  from  the  Chinchas 
were  brought  to  Europe  in  1804,  but  forty  more 
years  elapsed  before  its  value  as  a  fertilizer  was 
recognized  by  the  people  as  a  whole.  Then  followed 
a  rush  comparable  to  the  gold  rush  of  a  few  years 
later  in  America.  But,  instead  of  prairie- 
schooners  and  oxen,  the  seekers  einployed  sea- 
going vessels  and  sails.     Guano  was  the  goal. 

Ships  gathered  about  the  Chinchas  like  bees 
around  a  bowl  of  honey.  Vessels  of  all  nations 
met  there,  loaded  themselves  to  the  gunwales,  and 
departed,  to  return  as  fast  as  the  wind  would  drive 
them  to  their  home  ports  and  back  around  the 
Horn  again. 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  crush  was  at 
its  height.  It  was  no  uncommon  sight  to  see 
fiftv  vessels  loadino^  simultaneouslv  around  the 
Chinchas.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  tons  had 
now  disappeared  from  the  islands.  The  deposits 
seemed  inexhaustible  to  the  guano  merchants.  By 
1872  about  ten  million  tons  had  been  extracted; 
the  height  of  one  island  had  been  lowered  five 


204     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

score  feet.  And  the  birds,  much  perturbed  by 
the  unnatural  activities  around  their  homes,  be- 
gan to  die  off. 

In  the  meantime  Peru  was  making  the  best  of  a 
good  bargain  from  other  natural  resources  owed 
to  birds.  Together  with  Chile  she  was  working 
her  nitrate  beds  for  all  they  were  worth.  These 
were  responsible  for  a  large  portion  of  the  world's 
gunpowder,  and  there  was  an  ever-increasing  de- 
mand for  their  product.  Civil  war  had  broken  out 
in  the  United  States,  Europe  was  aflame  with 
martial  activity,  and  there  was  a  pressing  call  for 
more  ammunition  to  fight  battles. 

So  enormous  were  the  nitrate  beds  that  Chile 
and  Peru  heartily  congratulated  themselves  and 
cheerfully  supplied  the  growing  demand.  A 
million  and  a  half  tons  of  Chile  saltpeter  were 
taken  out  in  one  year.  In  1860  it  had  been  esti- 
mated that  the  deposits  were  sufficient  to  supply 
the  world  for  1500  years  more;  three  decades 
later  a  few  optimists  thought  that  the  nitrates 
might  possibly  last  forty  years  longer,  so  heavily 
had  the  beds  been  plundered. 

Peru  waxed  opulent.  iShe  owned  both  guano 
and  nitrate  beds.  An  export  duty  was  levied  on 
all  the  material  taken  out.  As  the  trade  flour- 
ished, her  national  wealth  multiplied.  All  inter- 
nal taxation  was  abolished.  A  supposedly  ideal 
government  was  established,  a  government  which 


GUANO  205 

subsisted  entirely  upon  an  income  derived  from 
natural  resources. 

Alas,  all  the  geese  proved  to  be  swans!  Chile 
was  jealous  of  the  good  fortune  of  her  neighbor 
across  the  border.  Chile  owned  no  guano  islands. 
Her  own  income  was  dependent  upon  her  saltpeter 
beds,  and  these  wer'e  insufficient  to  supply  her 
needs.  The  iniquitous  Peru  had  secured  more 
than  her  proper  share  of  the  spoils.  And,  to  make 
it  worse,  her  largest  nitrate  beds  were  situated 
close  to  the  Chilean  border.  These  should  belong 
to  Chile ;  Peru  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  the  guano 
deposits  alone. 

The  inevitable  war  between  the  two  countries 
broke  out  in  1879.  After  a  considerable  period  of 
desultory  fighting,  Chile  claimed  the  victory.  In 
compensation  for  the  real  or  fancied  wrongs  in- 
flicted upon  her,  she  annexed  the  rich  province  of 
Tarapaca  and  all  the  nitrates  it  contained. 
Thereafter  she  rested  upon  her  laurels,  more  or 
less  satisfied. 

4 

The  Search  for  Guano  by  the  United  States 

Although  never  deeply  interested  in  the  salt- 
peter beds,  the  United  States  was  among  the 
leaders  in  the  pursuit  of  guano — a  position  into 
which    she   was    forced   by   her    economic    situ- 


206     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ation.  With  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi  VaUey, 
her  agricultural  possibilities  had  increased  ten- 
fold. Fertilizer  became  an  article  of  necessity 
in  the  extension  of  husbandry.  At  that  date  the 
chief  resources  of  the  United  States  were  based 
on  her  agriculture :  she  needed  guano  and  needed 
it  badly,  but  it  was  difficult  to  secure  it  in  large 
enough  quantity.  Even  as  early  as  1850  the  price 
had  soared  as  high  as  fifty  dollars  a  ton.  Though 
many  farmers  were  too  poor  to  buy  it,  the  supply 
still  fell  far  short  of  the  demand. 

In  desperation  the  United  States  Government 
entered  into  negotiations  with  Peru  to  obtain  a 
major  portion  of  the  Peruvian  output.  The  pro- 
posed plan  would  give  America  what  amounted  to 
a  monopoly  on  the  guano  trade,  and  Peru  balked 
at  the  idea.  She  was  too  wily  to  be  caught  in  this 
way ;  the  high  price  of  guano  was  too  vital  to  her 
existence.  Grave  international  complications 
therefore  arose,  and  the  United  States  was 
snubbed.  Then,  despairing  of  an  agreement  with 
Peru,  she  concentrated  her  attention  elsewhere — 
upon  the  islands  of  the  Pacific. 

The  American  Guano  Co.  of  New  York  was  -or- 
ganized in  1855  with  a  capital  of  ten  million  dollars 
to  develop  the  deposits  on  Baker  and  Jarvis 
islands  in  the  South  Pacific.  In  the  following  year 
the  Federal  Government  passed  a  Guano  Act  to 
encourage    exploration   for   guano.    Everything 


GUANO  207 

possible  was  done  to  further  individual  interest  in 
guano  seeking. 

The  Gruano  Act  set  forth  that  any  American 
citizen  who  discovered  an  island  not  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  foreign  government  might,  if 
he  desired,  remove  any  guano  which  might  be 
present,  under  protection  of  the  United  States. 
Hitherto  national  policy  had  frowned  upon  ex- 
tension into  territory  outside  the  continental 
limits  of  North  America;  but  now  the  necessity 
for  an  increased  supply  of  fertilizing  material 
led  to  a  deviation  from  this  traditional  policy. 
It  was  declared,  however,  that  only  peaceable 
occupation  of  the  islands  would  be  countenanced 
by  the  United  States;  any  departure  from 
this  line  of  conduct  would  mean  the  loss  of 
the  island  to  the  discoverer,  whether  private  indi- 
vidual or  developing  company.  Under  the  act,, 
upon  the  exhaustion  of  the  guano  beds  the  island 
must  revert  to  the  United  States  as  its  lawful 
owner;  and  it  might  be  returned  to  its  former 
status  of  unclaimed  territory  if  the  government  so 
desired. 

By  1898  more  than  seventy  islands  had  been 
located  under  this  Guano  Act — ^fifty-four  in  the 
South  Pacific  and  seventeen  in  the  West  Indies. 
Of  these  the  majority  proved  worthless,  but  a  few 
yielded  small  amounts  of  the  desired  product.  In 
this  way,  between  1869  and  1898,  something  more 


208     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

than  a  quarter  of  a  milHon  tons  was  procured 
for  use  in  the  United  States.  The  island  deposits, 
however,  were  comparatively  small,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  they  had  been 
worked  out.  Laysan  Island,  several  hundred 
miles  northwest  of  the  Hawaiian  group,  alone  of 
them  all  still  has  a  future  in  the  guano  industry, 
but  the  island  is  small  and  its  production  of  guano 
is  low. 


Peruvian  Guano 

When  the  failure  of  her  new  plan  became  evi- 
dent, the  United  States  turned  her  attention  back 
to  Peru.  Her  importations  from  that  country 
had  never  ceased,  and  now  she  sought  to  double 
and  quadruple  them.  But  again  her  plans  met 
with  a  check.  This  time,  however,  there  proved 
to  be  no  international  complications  involved. 
The  inexhaustible  supply  of  Peruvian  guano  was 
merely  giving  out! 

At  the  close  of  the  war  with  Chile,  Peru  had 
found  herself  deeply  buried  under  a  national  debt. 
She  discovered  that  warfare  is  indeed  a  costly 
pastime.  Then,  in  a  frantic  effort  to  emerge  from 
under  the  burden,  she  had  mortgaged  the  Chincha 
and  Lobos  groups  to  private  corporations. 

The  results  of  this  step  are  not  difficult  to 
understand.     Under  the   terms   of  contract  the* 


GUANO  209 

greater  part  of  the  guano  had  to  be  exported. 
And  exported  it  was.  The  hundred-foot  beds 
disappeared  as  if  they  were  melting  snow.  The 
end  soon  hove  in  sight.  By  1907  only  124,000  tons 
were  extracted  as  against  nearly  ten  times 
that  amount  forty  years  earlier.  The  old  guano 
which  remained  was  of  inferior  quality;  the  pro- 
duction of  the  new  annually  decreased  as  the  birds 
died  off. 

In  signing  away  her  guano  rights  to  corpora- 
tions, Peru  had  been  short-sighted  in  more  than 
one  way.  What  was  deemed  sufficient  fertilizer 
for  her  own  agriculture  had  been  reserved,  but  the 
inevitable  expansion  bound  to  follow  in  a  new 
country  had  not  been  considered.  Soon  it  was  dis- 
covered that  not  half  enough  guano  had  been 
placed  in  reservation ;  but  it  was  too  late.  Peru 's 
hands  were  bound  by  contracts.  Four  times  the 
amount  she  needed  for  herself  were  annually  being 
exported  to  foreign  countries. 

Peruvian  agriculture  suffered.  In  addition,  ow- 
ing to  the  continual  and  ruthless  destruction  of 
the  rookeries,  the  sea-birds  were  rapidly  becom- 
ing extinct.  Instead  of  a  yearly  deposition  of  a 
hundred  thousand  tons  of  fresh  guano,  the  birds 
now  produced  scarcely  one  fifth  of  that  amount. 
The  country  faced  a  wiping  out  of  its  income,  both 
from  agriculture  and  from  guano. 

Peru  was  desperate;  she  was  panic-stricken. 
Her  enormous  wealth  had  been  expended,  leaving 


210    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

nothing  to  show  for  it.  Then  she  did  what  she 
should  have  done  half  a  century  before.  As  fast 
as  the  leases  to  the  private  corporations  ran  out, 
the  islands  were  taken  over  by  the  Government 
and  conservation  commenced. 

The  welfare  of  the  guano  islands  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  Compahia  Administradora  del 
Guano,  a  semi-official  corporation  controlled  by 
the  Peruvian  Government.  The  duty  of  this  com- 
pany was  to  put  the  extraction  of  guano  upon  a 
purely  economical  business  basis.  When  an 
island  was  returned  from  private  lease,  its  admin- 
istration was  at  once  undertaken  by  the  new  com- 
pany, and  for  the  first  tim-e  in  the  history  of  Peru 
the  production  of  guano  was  handled  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view. 

The  initial  move  of  the  Compania  Administra- 
dora del  Guano  was  to  curtail  the  promiscuous  ex- 
port of  the  product.  Thereafter  the  fertilizer  was 
to  be  employed  only  within  the  national  boundaries 
of  the  country  until  all  internal  needs  had  been 
met.  As  the  old  beds  had  been  exhausted,  it  was 
realized  that  the  hope  of  a  future  guano  industry 
lay  in  an  increase  of  fresh  production.  This,  of 
course,  could  be  effected  only  by  an  enlargement 
in  the  size  and  number  of  rookeries. 

With  these  objects  in  view,  each  island  was 
erected  into  a  bird  sanctuary,  closed  to  all  visitors 
whose  presence  might  disturb  the  birds.  Watch- 
men were  detailed  to  guard  the  reservations  from 


GUANO  211 

marauding  creatures,  such  as  condors,  eagles, 
skuas,  and  gulls,  which  extract  a  considerable  toll 
from  the  young  birds  and  eggs.  The  psychology 
of  the  sea-birds  was  studied  and  steps  were 
taken  to  avoid  disturbing  them  as  much  as  possible 
during  the  gathering  of  their  excreta.  This  was 
removed  with  all  speed  once  every  thirty  months 
and  the  island  vacated  immediately  afterward. 
In  short,  every  manner  of  means  was  attempted  to 
cause  the  birds  to  multiply. 

The  result  of  this  careful  treatment,  after  thir- 
teen years,  is  entirely  satisfactory.  The  number 
of  birds  using  the  guano  islands  has  visibly  in- 
creased. They  are  tame,  contented,  and  prolific. 
In  a  single  decade,  from  1909  to  1919,  their  annual 
deposits  rose  from  25,350  tons  to  80,517.  Peru- 
vian agriculture  called  for  50,000  tons  in  1907  and 
received  only  26,000;  in  1920  it  demanded  70,000 
and  got  them.  Wliat  is  more,  the  nitrogen  con- 
tent of  the  guano,  which  in  1913-14  averaged  about 
8.65  per  cent.,  had  through  some  unknown  cause 
reached  12.52  per  cent,  in  1920. 

The  extraction  of  guano  is  not  permitted  during 
the  main  breeding  season  of  the  birds,  from 
November  to  March.  As  each  bird  is  valued  at 
fifteen  dollars  by  the  Peruvian  Government,  it 
has  been  made  a  penal  otfense  to  destroy  either 
the  birds  or  their  eggs.  Thus  the  feathered  popu- 
lation of  certain  islands,  which  ten  years  ago  had 
fallen  to  a  few  score  thousand,  now  totals  a  million 


212    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

individuals  or  more.  The  future  of  the  industry 
has  brightened,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect 
that  some  day  not  many  years  in  the  future  will 
see  the  exportation  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
tons  as  of  old.  The  birds,  ably  assisted  by  the 
Compania  Administradora  del  Guano,  are  doing 
their  best  to  win  back  that  day. 

That  is  the  story  of  guano.  For  Peru  it  is  al- 
most the  whole  story.  Her  bird  colonies  are  a 
source  of  wealth  which  may  be  counted  in  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  dollars.  They  are  her  most 
important  natural  resource,  one  upon  which  she 
can  depend  for  a  steady  annual  income. 


CHAPTER  XI 


BIEDS  AS  FOOD 


1.  In  Europe.  2.  Bird  Eggs.  3.  Edible  Bird  Nests.  4.  History 
of  American  Birds  as  Food.  5.  An  Economic  Resource  of 
the  United  States. 


In  Europe 

Birds  and  their  eggs  have  been  utilized  as  food 
since  the  earliest  years  of  human  antiquity.  In 
the  dark  days  before  the  development  of  agricul- 
ture, eggs  formed  a  staple  diet  for  mankind,  just 
as  they  do  at  present  for  the  Eskimos  and  modern 
savage  tribes.  Even  now  both  birds  and  eggs  are 
esteemed  as  delicacies  by  most  civilized  peoples, 
though  their  place  as  a  common  aliment  has  been 
taken  to  a  large  extent  by  domestic  fowl. 

The  birds  of  Europe  have  been  consumed  in 
enormous  numbers  in  the  past.  For  two  thousand 
years  they  were  considered  the  property  of  any 
one  who  desired  to  take  them.  Only  game-birds 
were  vouchsafed  any  protection,  and  they 
were  reserved  for  slaughter  by  persons  of  rank; 
song-birds  and  water-fowl  could  be  captured  at 
will  at  any  time  of  the  year. 

213 


214    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

This  is  the  condition  that  existed  in  Europe 
until  comparatively  recent  times  and  is  even  so 
to-day  in  Italy.  Seventy  years  ago  it  was  not  an 
uncommon  thing  to  see  larks,  linnets,  thrushes, 
starlings,  and  magpies  hanging  by  the  gross  in 
the  shop-windows  of  any  city  in  Europe.  They 
were  toothsome  morsels,  greatly  sought  after  by 
epicures.  Hundreds  of  persons  made  a  living  by 
their  capture,  which  was  contrived  with  nets, 
traps,  and  guns ;  and  their  sale  brought  a  consider- 
able income  to  the  shopkeepers. 

But  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  birds  has  had  its 
ups  and  downs.  At  one  period  in  the  history  of 
Europe  it  might  be  frowned  upon  by  the  governing 
powers ;  a  generation  later  it  might  be  encouraged. 
Thus,  in  France,  immediately  before  1789,  game- 
birds  were  rigidly  protected  by  law  and  might  be 
killed  only  during  short  open  seasons.  The  slay- 
ing of  other  kinds  for  food,  while  not  forbidden, 
was  not  popular.  Then  came  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, and  a  wave  of  communism  swept  over  the 
country.  Laws  limiting  the  personal  freedom  of 
the  individual  were  abolished,  game-laws  included. 
The  birds  and  game  of  France  were  turned  over 
to  the  people  to  do  with  what  they  willed. 
They  willed  to  eat  them. 

When  Napoleon  forced  himself  to  the  throne 
of  France,  he  lost  no  time  in  reestablishing  the 
game-laws.    But  all  birds  other  than  game  were 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  215 

overlooked,  and  their  death  toll  continued  to  in- 
crease. Owing  to  the  state  of  war  which  prevailed 
in  Europe  at  that  time,  food  was  expensive  and 
scarce  in  France.  Birds  were  easy  to  catch  and 
cost  nothing.  Therefore,  they  became  food  for 
the  French  people. 

Once  the  habit  had  been  instilled  in  the 
peasantry  of  securing  food  in  this  way,  only  the 
enforcement  of  stringent  laws  could  break  it.  As 
a  result  of  the  promiscuous  slaughter  of  the  pre- 
vious fifty  years,  the  agriculture  of  France  by  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  virtually 
ruined  by  succeeding  waves  of  insect  pests, 
aided  by  swarms  of  rodents  which  devoured 
the  crops.  An  official  investigation  showed 
that  all  birds  were  on  the  edge  of  extermin- 
ation; they  had  gone  to  provide  sustenance 
for  the  peasants  and  to  fill  the  markets  of 
Paris.  The  French  Government  at  once  en- 
acted laws  to  protect  all  but  a  few  birds.  The 
laws  were  enforced,  and  within  a  few  years  the 
bird  population  had  revived.  The  shops  were  no 
longer  cluttered  with  their  bodies,  and  the  insect 
and  rodent  scourges  had  become  memories  of  the 
past. 

The  story  of  Italy,  however,  is  very  different 
from  that  of  France.  Italian  birds  still  are  the 
property  of  any  person  who  wishes  to  take  them. 
They  are  excellent  eating:  therefore  Italy  is  with- 


216    THE  IMPOKTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

out  birds  except  in  the  migratory  seasons  when 
the  winged  travelers  from  northern  Europe  pass 
over  her  boundaries. 

Bird  killing  in  Italy  is  on  a  scientific  basis. 
The  markets  are  flooded  with  the  little  bodies  dur- 
ing the  late  autumn,  and  birds  are  regarded  as 
one  of  the  commercial  resources  of  the  country. 
In  reality,  however,  they  represent  a  rich  resource 
of  all  Europe  which  is  employed  by  Italy  for  her 
own  benefit.  Small  birds  fetch  from  two  to  ^ve 
cents  apiece  in  the  market.  They  may  be  bought 
singly  or  strung  on  long  spits.  The  majority  are 
song-birds,  though  a  few  actually  belong  to  the 
proper  list  of  migratory  game. 

The  Italian  method  of  procuring  them  is  by  , 
means  of  traps,  of  which  several  kinds  are 
employed.  For  instance,  there  is  the  roccolo,  a 
tower  set  up  in  the  midst  of  a  small  grove  of  trees 
or  brush,  from  which  are  strung  a  series  of 
fowler  ^s  nets.  The  bird-catcher  remains  hidden 
inside  the  tower,  while,  outside,  his  live  decoy- 
birds  entice  others  into  the  toils  with  their  calls. 

Or  the  fowler  may  utilize  as  a  trap  a  high  cir- 
cular wall  completely  lined  inside  with  nets.  The 
bottom  of  the  inclosed  court-yard  is  liberally 
covered  with  grain,  and  several  call-birds  are 
loosed  there  to  feed.  Migrating  individuals,  as- 
sured by  the  presence  of  the  decoys,  flock  down  be- 
side them.  Then,  when  a  sufficient  number  have 
collected,  the  trapper  discharges  a  gun.    Wild 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  217 

consternation  follows  the  report.  The  birds  scat- 
ter, panic-stricken,  in  all  directions,  and  many  are 
enmeshed  in  the  netting. 

These  two  means  of  trapping  afford  an  excellent 
living  to  the  bird-catchers.  Five  hundred  birds 
may  be  secured  in  a  single  trap  within  a  week. 
Some  roccolos  have  been  known  to  take  10,000  in 
a  season. 

Concerning  Norway  and  Sweden  there  is  a  dif- 
ferent tale  to  tell.  There  birds  are  protected  by 
most  stringent  laws.  Song-birds  have  a  perma- 
nently closed  season,  but  game  in  the  form  of 
grouse,  pheasants,  ducks,  and  geese  is  marketed 
in  large  quantities.  The  sale  is  limited  to  short 
seasons  and  care  is  taken  to  avoid  too  heavy 
slaughter.  Game-birds  are  sold  to  the  value  of 
several  million  dollars  annually. 

Under  the  British  law,  during  the  autumn 
months  the  shops  of  England  are  also  filled  with 
pheasants,  grouse,  and  partridge.  The  majority 
of  game  lands  in  that  country  are  privately  owned 
and  the  birds  are  carefully  reared  and  guarded  for 
shooting.  Care  is  taken  not  to  kill  more  than  the 
preserves  will  easily  afford,  and  the  surplus  bag 
which  cannot  be  consumed  by  the  sportsmen  is 
sold. 

A  definite  market  has  thus  been  developed  in 
England,  one  which  is  not  detrimental  to  the  in- 
crease of  game-birds  and  yet  is  of  actual  commer- 
cial importance.     During  the  World  War,  when. 


218    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

England  was  on  a  ration  basis,  this  additional  food 
product  proved  of  great  value.  Because  of  pre- 
vious conservation  of  game  there  was  a  large 
quantity  of  food  on  hand  which  now  could  be  util- 
ized. 

Early  in  the  war  the  Ministry  of  Food  issued 
regulations  regarding  the  disposal  of  game.  The 
owner,  or  occupier,  of  a  *^ shooting"  was  per- 
mitted to  keep  enough  birds  for  himself  and 
family,  but  all  that  were  left  over  must  be  shipped 
to  the  market.  The  sportsman  had  no  option 
whatever  in  the  disposal  of  his  bag.  The  price  of 
cock-pheasants,  in  1918,  was  officially  set  at  five 
shillings  eightpence  each;  hen-pheasants  at  five 
shillings  twopence ;  old  partridges  at  one  shilling 
ninepence ;  young  partridges  at  three  shillings  six- 
pence; old  grouse  at  two  shillings  sixpence;  and 
young  grouse  at  five  shillings. 

Song-birds,  while  protected  in  most  parts  of 
Great  Britain,  are  still  killed  and  eaten  in  some 
regions.  When  the  war  was  being  fought,  crows, 
rooks,  sparrows,  starlings,  and  storks  could  offi- 
cially be  taken  as  food;  but  many  other  birds 
found  their  way  to  the  market.  Gull  eggs  were 
also  consumed  in  large  numbers. 

2 
Bird  Eggs 
"While  a  promiscuous  destruction  of  eggs  is  the 


BIEDS  AS  FOOD  219 

swiftest  way  to  annihilate  any  species  of  wild 
bird,  egging  when  conducted  in  a  conservative 
manner  need  not  be  productive  of  harmful  results. 
A  living  example  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the 
eider-ducks  of  Iceland.  For  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  these  birds  have  supplied  the  Iceland- 
ers with  food,  clothing,  and  bedding ;  and  yet  they 
are  as  numerous  as  they  were  in  the  beginning. 
The  colonists  took  care  never  to  kill  more  birds 
than  were  necessary  for  their  needs.  Although 
the  Icelander,  after  several  incursions,  secures 
from  ten  to  a  dozen  duck  eggs  every  season  from 
each  nest,  he  makes  certain  that  enough  are  left 
so  that  the  population  of  the  ducks  will  not  suf- 
fer. 

The  world  in  general,  unfortunately,  has  not 
followed  the  Icelander's  example.  If  it  had  done 
so  there  would  be  many  more  birds  alive  than 
there  are  to-day.  Many  great  colonies  have  been 
destroyed  or  thoroughly  disorganized  by  the  in- 
roads of  egg  hunters.  And  this  has  been  the  fate 
of  most  rookeries  along  the  American  coast. 
Until  State  legislation  put  a  stop  to  it,  every  egg 
more  than  one  inch  in  diameter  that  could  be 
found  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  was  considered 
fair  booty  for  the  egg  merchant. 

From  Nova  Scotia  northward  such  sea-fowl  as 
auks,  murres,  cormorants,  ducks,  and  geese  were 
wont  to  breed  in  vast  numbers.  Yearly  their 
breeding-grounds  were  devastated  until  the  actual 


220    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

longevity  of  the  species  was  threatened.  To-day 
auks,  murres,  and  even  cormorants  do  not  number 
one  tenth  what  they  did  a  century  ago ;  the  Labra- 
dor duck,  partly  through  the  efforts  of  egg 
hunters,  is  now  extinct;  and  the  eider-duck  no 
longer  breeds  in  great  rookeries  along  the  Labra- 
dor coast.  Instead  of  boldly  constructing  their 
nests  in  the  open  as  was  their  ancient  custom, 
these  birds  now  rear  their  broods  surreptitiously 
in  tall  patches  of  grass  or  upon  rocky  ledges  in- 
accessible to  men. 

The  same  fate  has  befallen  the  gull,  tern, 
and  heron  rookeries  of  the  southern  Atlantic  and 
Gulf  coasts  of  the  United  States.  Only  forty 
years  ago  vessels  were  specially  outfitted  for  raids 
on  the  sandy  islands  off  the  shores  of  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas.  In  Texas,  during  the  nesting  sea- 
son, every  boat  on  the  coast,  large  and  small, 
gathered  at  the  rookeries. 

The  procedure  of  the  collectors  in  those  days 
was  identical  with  the  procedure  employed  every- 
where else.  The  first  step  upon  arriving  at  the 
breeding-grounds  was  to  destroy  every  egg  in 
sight.  The  birds  thereupon  laid  fresh  ones,  and 
these  were  gathered  every  second  day  until  the 
laying  ceased.  No  thought  was  given  to  conser- 
vation or  protection  of  the  creatures  that  were 
responsible  for  the  eggs.  These  were  merely 
picked  up  as  long  as  there  were  any  to  pick  up. 
The  result  was  that  the  birds  could  not  rear  suffi- 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  221 

cient  young  to  maintain  their  numbers.  The 
rookeries  every  year  became  smaller  and  the  birds 
more  scattered.  Finally,  it  no  longer  paid  the 
hunters  to  visit  the  islands. 

But,  while  the  trade  was  at  its  best,  the  cargoes 
of  eggs  were  shipped  to  the  nearest  market. 
Great  quantities  would  be  broken  in  transit,  or,  if 
the  weather  proved  warm,  they  would  rot.  Only 
a  small  percentage  reached  their  destination,  and 
these  were  as  a  rule  of  extremely  poor  quality. 
And  the  prices  obtained  were  low. 

The  fate  of  the  Pacific  coast  rookeries  was 
identical  to  the  fate  of  those  on  the  eastern  sea- 
board. Islands,  cliffs,  and  sand-dunes,  from 
Alaska  to  southern  California.,  were  stripped  of 
their  avian  products.  So  enormous  were  the  colo- 
nies of  murres  alone  that  six  men  have  been 
known  to  load  four  tons  of  eggs  into  a  vessel  at 
Walrus  Island  in  Bering  Sea  in  three  hours. 

At  one  time  millions  of  gulls  and  murres  nested 
in  the  Farallone  Islands,  situated  about  thirty 
miles  from  the  Golden  Gate.  Egg  collecting  went 
on  there  for  fifty  years  until  only  a  remnant  of  the 
rookeries  remained.  Corporations  were  organ- 
ized to  handle  the  industry,  so  important  did  it 
seem.  Vessel-load  after  vessel-load  arrived  at 
the  market  in  San  Francisco.  Half  a  million  eggs 
were  taken  in  1854  from  South  Farallone  Island 
alone ;  thirty  years  later  this  number  had  fallen  to 
three    hundred    thousand;    and    in    1896    only 


222     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ninety-two  thousand  reached  San  Francisco.  The 
eggs  were  worth  from  twelve  to  twenty  cents  a 
dozen  in  the  city. 

A  corporation  also  undertook  to  handle  the 
eggs  and  guano  of  the  Laysan  Island  albatross 
rookery.  Narrow-gage  tram  lines  were  laid  over 
the  island  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  guano. 
During  the  breeding  season  the  eggs  were  gath- 
ered by  the  car-load  and  rolled  to  a  central  ship- 
ping-point where  they  could  be  placed  on  a  vessel, 
or  be  cooked  up  for  the  guano  diggers  if  food  hap- 
pened to  be  running  short. 

But,  by  the  enactment  of  State  laws,  and  through 
the  making  of  government  preserves  out  of  the 
remnants  of  the  sea-bird  rookeries,  egg  hunting 
is  now  unlawful  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
Poachers  still  continue  to  take  a  small  toll,  but 
their  raids  are  insignificant  compared  with  what 
went  on  fifty  years  ago.  The  rookeries  are  at 
last  regaining  the  numerical  strength  which  was 
theirs  in  the  days  of  our  great-grandfathers. 

3 

Edible  Bird  Nests 

Though  of  far  less  general  utility  as  food  than 
the  eggs  of  birds,  the  nests  of  a  small  group  of 
swifts  which  inhabit  southeastern  Asia  and  most 
of  the  adjacent  islands  are  sometimes  eaten.  These 
swifts  are  tiny  creatures  ranging  from  three  and 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  223 

a  half  to  ^Ye  inches  in  length,  and  their  nests  are 
correspondingly  small.  They  nest  in  great  cav- 
erns, swarming  there  in  hundreds  of  thousands, 
and  the  swish  of  their  rapidly  beating  wings  may  be 
likened  to  the  roar  of  a  gale  as  it  tears  through  the 
rigging  of  a  ship.  The  nests,  manufactured  from 
the  glutinous  saliva  of  the  birds,  are  attached  to 
the  sides  of  the  rocks  in  the  form  of  small,  saucer- 
like cradles. 

The  Chinese  prize  these  nests  highly  as  food, 
employing  them  as  an  ingredient  of  their  famous 
bird's-nest  soup.  The  nest  of  the  esculent  swift- 
let  is  the  one  most  used.  The  bird  is  a  native  of 
Borneo,  and  the  collecting  of  its  nests  constitutes 
there  an  important  industry.  More  than  three 
and  a  half  million  have  been  exported  from  that 
region  in  a  single  year. 

Mr.  H.  Prior,  who  about  thirty  years  ago  visited 
a  cave  in  Borneo,  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  methods  pursued  by  the  bird-nesters : 

In  this  cave  I  saw  the  nest  gatherers  at  work  getting 
in  their  crop.  A  thin  rattan  ladder  was  fixed  to  the  end 
of  a  long  pole  and  wedged  against  the  rock:  two  men 
were  on  the  ladder;  one  carried  a  long,  four-pronged 
spear,  a  lighted  candle  being  fixed  to  it  a  few  inches 
below  the  prongs.  A  slight  twist  detaches  the  nest  un- 
broken from  the  rock ;  the  spear  is  then  withdrawn  until 
the  head  is  within  the  reach  of  the  second  man,  who  takes 
the  nest  off  the  prongs  and  places  it  in  a  pouch  carried 
at  the  waist.     The  nests  of  best  quality  are  bound  up 


224    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

into  packets  with  strips  of  rattan,  the  inferior  being 
simply  threaded  together;  the  best  packets  generally 
weigh  one  catty  (IVslb.),  averaging  forty  nests,  and 
are  sold  at  $9  each,  the  annual  value  of  the  nests 
gathered  being  $25,000,  These  caves  have  been  worked 
for  seven  generations  without  any  diminution  in  the 
quantity ;  three  crops  are  taken  during  the  year. 

The  white  nests  are  supplied  entirely  by  the  inspissated 
saliva  of  the  bird,  and  are  the  first  produced.  These  are 
taken  and  sold  for  their  weight  in  silver.  The  next 
made  by  the  birds  are  mixed  with  rootlets,  grass,  etc., 
and  often  show  traces  of  blood,  from  the  efforts  of  the 
birds  to  produce  the  saliva.  They  are  esteemed  second 
quality.  The  third  nest  is  composed  of  extraneous  sub- 
stances cemented  together  and  to  the  rock  with  a  little 
saliva;  these  are  generally  left  to  the  birds  to  breed  in, 
and  are  usually  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  season,  to 
compel  the  birds  to  build  fresh  white  ones. 


History  of  American  Birds  as  Food 

The  ruthless  slaughter  of  birds  in  Italy  has 
been  touched  upon  in  a  previous  section  of  this 
chapter,  as  has  the  scientific  marketing  of  game- 
birds  in  G-reat  Britain  and  elsewhere  in  Europe. 
We  now  arrive  at  the  game  markets  of  America, 
and  what  an  ugly  story  we  find  it  is ! 

When  the  first  white  settler  reached  America 
he  was  amazed  at  the  hosts  of  all  manner  and  de- 
scriptions of  birds.     So  numerous  were  they  that 


Courtesy  of  Dr.  R.  C.  IMurphy 

DISUSED    CORMORANT    NESTS,    SHOWING    THE    GUANO    READY    FOR    GATHERING 


Courtesy  oi  the  Natiunal  Association 
of  Aubxidon  Societies 


Photograph  by 
T.  G.  Pearson 


A  Cabot's  tern  colony  in  texas — these  rookies  U'ere  depleted  by  egg 

HUNTERS 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  225 

it  was  inconceivable  that  the  supply  should  ever 
be  exhausted. 

But  the  first  settlers  did  not  bother  to  kill  birds. 
The  forests  and  plains  teemed  with  large  four- 
footed  game  whose  meat  was  delicious.  The  cost  of 
ammunition  was  too  high  to  waste  it  upon  smaller 
stuff.  The  hardy  professional  hunters  of  pioneer 
days  were  killers  of  deer,  bear,  and  bison ;  grouse 
and  ducks  were  beneath  their  notice. 

However,  as  the  years  passed,  the  time  arrived 
when,  late  in  the  eighteenth  century,  large  game 
grew  scarce  in  the  more  settled  regions.  Market 
hunters  were  forced  to  seek  deer  so  far  from  the 
cities  that  it  no  longer  paid  to  haul  them  back  to 
market.  Bear  were  scarce  and  bison  had  been  ex- 
terminated throughout  all  the  territory  east  of 
the  Ohio.  Then  it  was  that  birds  actually  began 
to  suffer. 

Throughout  the  last  century,  and  the  first  dec- 
ade of  the  present  one  an  internecine  slaughter 
of  game-birds  fed  the  markets  of  this  country. 
In  the  earliest  days,  when  the  birds  were  most 
numerous  and  less  likely  to  take  fright  in  the  pres- 
ence of  men,  nets  proved  the  most  profitable  means 
of  securing  them.  Ducks  could  be  driven  or 
decoyed  into  the  toils  without  difficulty.  The  net- 
ting of  quail  took  no  great  skill;  heath  hens 
proved  docile  and  stupid ;  and  nets  were  the  only 
method  by  which  it  paid  to  kill  wild  pigeons. 


226     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

So  great  was  the  resulting  slaughter  of  the  last 
two  species  that  both  finally  succumbed.  The 
heath  hens  went  first — except  for  the  small  rem- 
nant which  still  inhabits  Martha's  Vineyard, 
Massachusetts— and  the  passenger  pigeon  lin- 
gered on  for  a  few  years  longer. 

As  early  as  1815  Audubon  says  that  he  saw 
schooners  tied  to  the  wharves  of  New  York  laden 
with  pigeons.  From  that  time  forward  the  slay- 
ing of  these  birds  went  on  without  abatement, 
until  the  species  suddenly  ceased  to  exist.  It  is 
estimated  that  approximately  a  billion  were  killed 
in  Michigan  in  1878.  About  twelve  million  were 
shipped  from  one  Michigan  town  in  a  single  sea- 
son and  from  another  to\vTi  about  sixteen  million 
in  two  years.  These  birds  brought  twelve  to  fifty 
cents  a  dozen  in  the  market.  The  last  one  alive  in 
the  wild  state  was  killed  in  1908. 

Supplementing  his  nets,  the  professional  hunter 
for  many  years  employed  cannons  against  the  great 
rafts  of  water-fowl  which  lay  on  the  quiet  waters 
of  our  coastal  bays.  These  weapons  were  utilized 
mostly  at  night  when  the  victims  rested  in  com- 
pact flocks  on  the  water  surface.  The  cannon 
was  mounted  in  the  bow  of  a  boat  on  a  tripod  and 
swivel.  The  boat  was  then  silently  piloted  up  to  a 
sleeping  flock,  and  the  gun,  crammed  to  the  muzzle 
with  small  shot,  was  discharged  into  its  midst. 
The  slaughter  was  ghastly  and  extremely  waste- 
ful.   Perhaps  two  hundred  bodies  might  be  col- 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  227 

lected,  but  twice  that  number  would  be  left  to 
drift  away  unseen  in  the  darkness. 

Batteries,  consisting  of  a  number  of  gun-barrels 
secured  to  a  framework  and  so  arranged  that  they 
could  be  fired  simultaneously,  were  also  used 
against  ducks  and  geese.  The  victims  were  de- 
coyed to  the  spot  covered  by  the  battery  and  there 
annihilated  at  a  single  discharge. 

Even  to-day  there  is  a  similar  apparatus,  termed 
an  armada y  in  use  in  Mexico.  Three  hundred  gun- 
barrels  are  employed,  all  aimed  to  sweep  the  sur- 
face of  a  small  pool.  They  are  arranged  in  two 
tiers,  the  lower  one  being  directed  at  the  water, 
and  the  upper  to  clear  the  surface  by  a  few  feet. 
The  ducks  are  attracted  within  range  by  scatter- 
ing feed  on  the  pond,  in  the  same  manner  that  they 
are  baited  on  Long  Island.  The  birds  remain 
unmolested  until  thousands  acquire  the  habit  of 
occupying  the  pool.  Then,  when  a  sufficient  num- 
ber have  collected,  the  armada  is  discharged.  It 
is  on  record  that  one  discharge  has  accounted  for 
4696  birds. 

Netting  and  trapping  were  at  last  made  unlaw- 
ful in  the  United  States,  but  only  when  it  was  al- 
most too  late  to  save  the  birds.  The  use  of  cannon 
and  night  shooting  were  also  prohibited.  There- 
after the  market  hunter  was  forced  to  rely  upon 
the  shot-gun  only,  and  upon  the  straightness  of 
his  aim. 

Notwithstanding  the  passage  of  new  protective 


228    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

measures,  however,  the  slaughter  of  game-birds 
showed  signs  of  increasing  rather  than  decreasing. 
More  men  had  entered  the  profession.  Out  of  the 
ordinary  two-barreled,  breech-loading  shot-gun, 
a  six-shot  pump-gun  had  been  evolved,  and  from 
this  an  automatic  weapon  which  could  be  fired  five 
times  in  succession  by  merely  pulling  the  trigger. 
These  weapons  proved  about  as  dangerous  to  birds 
as  the  old  swivel-guns  and  nets.  As  a  result 
prairie  chickens  began  to  follow  the  same  road 
over  which  the  heath  hens  had  gone.  Car-load 
upon  car-load  was  shipped  from  the  West  to  the 
Eastern  cities.  Ducks  continued  to  arrive  at 
the  market  in  countless  thousands.  Shorebirds, 
golden  plover,  and  snipe  could  be  bought  **dirt 
cheap. ' '  And  all  the  while  the  city  markets  cried 
for  more. 

So  great  was  the  created  demand  that  song- 
birds began  to  be  treated  like  game-birds.  Robins 
were  killed  in  tens  of  thousands  in  the  Southern 
States.  One  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  were 
shipped  yearly  from  one  small  village  in  Tennes- 
see. Bobolinks  found  great  favor  with  the  epi- 
cures. Three  quarters  of  a  million  were  sent 
from  Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  in  one  season. 
Millions  were  consumed  locally.  And  other  song- 
birds, such  as  snow-buntings  and  meadow-larks, 
were  sold  as  game. 

Market  shooting  had  proved  too  profitable  for 
the  welfare  of  game.    A  certain  hunter  on  Long 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  229 

Island  told  the  writer  in  1907  that  he  had  made  as 
much  as  $2500  in  six  weeks  by  killing  ducks.  At 
that  time  redheads  brought  two  dollars  apiece 
from  the  consumer  and  canvas-backs  five;  on  the 
market  scaup  ducks  were  worth  fifty  cents  and 
common  scoters  that  much  a  pair.  Yellowlegs 
and  black-breasted  plover  brought  three  dollars 
a  dozen. 

Too  many  men  were  in  the  business,  and  birds 
grew  scarce.  Ruffed  grouse  a  century  before  had 
been  sold  at  two  cents  each;  now  they  brought 
two  dollars,  and  there  were  not  sufficient  to  meet 
the  demand.  By  1910  a  dozen  quail  were  valued  at 
five  dollars,  whereas  a  few  generations  ago  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  obtain  a  few  cents  for 
them.  Wild  turkeys,  which  in  Audubon's  day 
brought  twenty-five  cents  apiece,  were  no  longer 
on  the  market.  Professional  hunters  had  actually 
ruined  their  own  business  by  outdoing  themselves 
in  slaughter. 

And  by  1900  their  last  day  was  in  sight.  The 
public  had  suddenly  awakened  to  the  facts  of  the 
situation.  The  game-birds  of  America  had  virtu- 
ally been  destroyed.  Then  it  was  that  the  various 
States  enacted  laws  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  native 
game  within  their  borders.  But  they  failed  to 
prohibit  the  marketing  of  that  which  had  been 
killed  outside  their  boundaries, 

A  heavy  illicit  trade  in  game  was  the  result. 
Thousands  of  quail,  grouse,  and  ducks  shot  in  New 


230     THE  IMPOKTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Jersey  or  Maryland  were  sold  with  perfect  se- 
curity in  New  York.  If  they  could  be  smuggled 
out  of  the  State  where  they  had  met  their  demise, 
all  was  well.  So  long  as  they  had  not  been  killed 
in  New  York  State,  the  game  dealers  had  a  per- 
fect right  under  the  law  to  dispose  of  them. 

At  last,  however,  the  now  famous  Bayne  Law, 
which  prohibits  the  sale  of  American  wild  game 
and  limits  the  sale  of  imported  foreign  game, 
was  passed  in  New  York.  Within  the  next  ten 
years  every  State  in  the  Union  but  four  had 
followed  her  example;  and  in  the  recalcitrant 
States — Colorado,  Montana,  Washington,  and  New 
Mexico — the  sale  of  game-birds  taken  within  the 
State  is  now  forbidden. 

The  Federal  Government  in  1916  passed  an  act 
for  the  protection  of  migratory  birds.  The  sale 
of  any  such,  including  water-fowls,  shore-birds, 
snipe,  woodcock,  and  rails,  was  prohibited  through- 
out the  United  States.  The  knell  of  the  market 
hunter  had  sounded.  The  profession  in  this 
country  went  suddenly  out  of  existence. 

5 

An  Economic  Resoiirce  of  the  United  States 

Before  closing  it  is  necessary  to  add  a  few  words 
concerning  the  number  of  game-birds  now  legiti- 
mately shot  during  the  open  season.  Virtually 
all  of  these  are  eaten  either  by  the  gunner  or  his 


BIRDS  AS  FOOD  231 

friends,  and,  when  lumped  together,  they  demon- 
strate that  game-birds  still  have  an  economic  im- 
portance as  a  food  product. 

There  were  in  1911,  according  to  Dr.  W.  T. 
Hornaday,  more  than  two  million  and  a  half 
licensed  gunners  in  the  United  States.  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  York  together  issued  195,000 
licenses.  By  1920  that  number  had  been  increased 
in  those  two  States  by  70  per  cent. — to  a  quarter 
of  a  million  in  New  York  and  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  in  Massachusetts.  The  quota  of  licensed 
gunners  had  increased  in  the  other  States  in  pro- 
portion, so  that  their  total  in  1920  may  have  ap- 
proached four  and  a  half  million. 

About  435,000  game-birds  were  killed  in  Penn- 
•ylvania  during  the  season  of  1919.  As  there  were 
m  that  State  less  than  four  hundred  thousand 
licensed  shooters,  the  average  to  the  gun  was 
slightly  more  than  one  bird.  The  total  weight  of 
birds  shot  was  estimated  by  the  State  Game  Com- 
mission as  314  tons,  an  average  of  two  pounds  to 
the  gun. 

In  Massachusetts,  during  the  same  year,  each 
licensed  gun  obtained  only  one  seventh  of  a  bird, 
but  as  these  were  mainly  pheasants,  ducks,  or 
geese,  the  weight  to  the  gun  was  equivalent  to  half 
a  pound  of  meat.  The  gunners  of  one  inland 
county  in  New  York  shot  slightly  more  than  one 
pound  apiece. 

If  every  licensed  gunner  in  the  United  States 


232    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

secured  one  pound  of  birds  in  1919,  there  were  a 
total  of  approximately  2250  tons  killed  that  year. 
Taking  1919  as  an  average  year,  those  game-birds, 
valued  at  fifty  cents  a  pound,  then  mean  an  annual 
food  resource  of  the  United  States  worth  $2,250,- 
000. 


Prom  "Our  Vanishing  Wild  Life" 
THE  HUNT  FOR  DOWN,  PLUMAGE  AND  FOOD  EXTERMINATED    THESE 


GREAT   AUK 
ESKIMO    CURLEW 
PASSENGER   PIGEON 


LABR.A.DOR    DUCK 
PALLAS    CORMORANT 
CAROLINA    PARRAKEET 


CHAPTER  XII 


GAME-BIEDS 


1.  Definition.  2  The  Number  of  Game-Birds  in  the  United  States. 
3.  The  Tragedy  of  the  Water-Fowl.  4.  The  Tragedy  of  the 
Shorebirds.  5.  The  Tragedy  of  the  Upland  Birds!  6.  En- 
emies of  Gam.e-Birds.     7.  Protection  and  Conservation. 


Definition 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  hit  upon  a  defini- 
tion for  game-birds  which  will  meet  with  univer- 
sal agreement.  The  majority  of  civilized  coun- 
tries have  their  o^vn  individual  sets  of  game-laws 
and  their  own  definitions  of  the  characteristics 
considered  necessary  to  place  a  bird  on  the  game 
list.  These  characteristics  vary,  of  course,  ac- 
cording to  the  species  which  inhabit  the  region. 
Thus,  many  birds  of  Europe  are  accounted  as 
game,  which  do  not  occur  at  all  in  the  United 
States;  the  game-birds  of  South  America  are 
very  different  from  those  of  North  America ;  and 
the  Australian  game-birds  differ  from  any  others 
in  the  world. 

Two  countries  with  a  common  frontier  may 
have  diametrically  opposite  attitudes  toward  game. 
Popular  tradition  may  have  it  that  a  song-bird 

233 


234     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

in  one  country  will  be  protected  by  the  full  weight 
of  the  law,  while  in  the  land  across  the  way  it  will 
be  a  much-sought-for  game-bird.  Cases  in  point 
are  Italy  and  France.  Game-birds  in  France  are 
strictly  limited  to*  a  few  orders  or  families  partic- 
ularly palatable  when  on  the  table.  These  are 
protected  by  long  closed  seasons,  and  the  killing 
of  any  other  species — except  in  parts  of  southern 
France — is  prohibited  at  all  times.  Just  across 
the  border  lies  Italy  with  few  or  no  game-laws. 
Birds  there  belong  to  the  individual  and  may  be 
slaughtered  at  will.  France  ^s  song-birds,  then, 
are  Italy 's  game-birds. 

In  the  broadest  sense  game-birds  are  any  wild 
I)irds  that  are  hunted  as  food.  The  early  Egyp- 
tians feasted  on  ducks,  geese,  and  storks ;  the  game 
of  the  Romans  included  any  bird  thajt  was  edi- 
ble ;  the  dodo  of  Mauritius,  later  exterminated  by 
swine,  was  used  as  food  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago  by  the  Dutch ;  fully  a  century  has  passed 
since  the  last  moa  went  to  feed  the  Maoris  of  New 
Zealand ;  and  the  sandhill  crane  was  long  hunted 
in  America  until  it  was  brought  to  the  verge  of 
extinction.  These  were  all  considered  game-birds 
while  their  day  lasted. 

Any  creature  that  would  do  for  the  pot !  Such 
was  the  sad  fate  of  birds  in  all  civilized  countries 
until  the  last  century  was  well  advanced.  The 
first  settlers  in  America  found  the  region  actually 
teeming  with  game  of  all  kinds.     For  this  they 


GAME-BIRDS  235 

gave  thanksgiving;  an  abundance  of  meat  meant 
the  survival  of  their  settlements.  Centuries 
passed;  the  colonies  grew  and  spread  until  they 
had  overflowed  the  Alleghany  barrier  into  the 
reaches  of  the  Mississippi.  Game  was  still  plenti- 
ful ;  the  forests  were  alive  with  ruif ed  grouse,  tur- 
keys, and  quail;  at  times  the  sky  was  darkened 
by  great  flights  of  pigeons.  Upon  these  vast  hosts 
the  colonial  sportsmen  could  make  no  lasting  im- 
pression with  their  ill-constructed  fowling-pieces. 

Feathered  game,  other  than  turkeys,  actually 
held  its  own  against  the  settlers  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  So  plentiful  was  it  that  it  was  little 
affected  by  the  growth  of  large  towns  in  its  do- 
main. As  an  example  of  this,  a  New  York  news- 
paper in  1772  advertised  for  sale  'at  auction  a 
tract  of  more  than  a  hundred  acres  situated  near 
what  is  now  125th  Street  in  that  city,  stating  that 
it  abounded  with  wild-fowl,  including  **  ducks, 
geese,  pidgeons,  quail,  etc.''  In  Massachusetts 
a  bounty  was  for  a  time  placed  on  ruffed  grouse 
in  order  to  save  the  crops  which  were  beiiPg  de- 
stroyed by  the  birds. 

But  within  fifty  years  of  the  inception  of  the 
United  States  as  a  nation,  several  species  of  food 
birds  had  already  grown  scarce  in  some  of  the 
more  densely  populated  States.  With  the  arrival 
of  the  breech-loader  their  disappearance  was  more 
rapid.  What  large  birds  remained  faced  extermi- 
nation; and  the  smaller  ones  commenced  to  be 


236    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

sought  for.  Reed-birds,  robins,  blackbirds,  and 
pigeons  proved  almost  as  delicious  to  the  palate 
as  more  legitimate  game. 

Laws  governing  the  killing  of  birds  gradually 
evolved  in  the  various  States,  but  these  for  a 
long  time  proved  ineffective.  There  was  no  set 
definition  of  the  diif erence  between  game  and  non- 
game  birds.  The  story  of  France  and  Italy  was 
reenacted.  Robins  and  reed-birds  were  protected 
in  the  North  and  slaughtered  in  the  South.  What 
were  considered  song-birds  in  one  State  might 
be  much-sought-f  or  game  in  the  next. 

Finally,  the  American  Ornithologists'  Union 
stepped  in  to  relieve  the  chaotic  situation.  It  pre- 
pared, in  1886,  a  definition  of  game-birds  which 
since  then  has  been  generally  accepted  by  the 
United  States  as  a  whole.  The  definition  was 
based  entirely  upon  the  natural  grouping  of  birds 
and  read  as  follows : 

The  following  shall  be  considered  as  game  birds :  The 
Anatidae,  commonly  known  as  swans,  geese,  brant,  and 
river  and  sea  ducks;  the  Rallidae,  commonly  known  as 
rails,  coots,  mudhens,  and  gallinules ;  the  Limicolae,  com- 
monly known  as  shore  birds,  plovers,  surf  birds,  snipe, 
woodcock,  sandpipers,  tattlers,  and  curlew ;  and  the  Gal- 
linae,  commonly  known  as  wild  turkeys,  grouse,  prairie 
chickens,  pheasants,  partridges,  and  quail. 

The  Biological  Survey  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  at  Washington  in  1900  expanded  this 


GAME-BIRDS  237 

definition  to  read  ** ducks''  for  ** river  and  sea 
ducks ' ' ;  shorebirds,  ^  ^  including  plover,  woodcock, 
sandpipers,  and  curlews  ...'';  and  left  out 
prairie  chickens  from  the  list,  including  them 
under  the  head  of  grouse.  Under  the  Migratory 
Treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  for  the  protection  of  migratory  birds  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  ratified  in  1916,  the 
definition  of  migratory  game-birds  included,  be- 
sides ducks,  shorebirds,  and  rails,  cranes,  such  as 
the  ** little  brown,  sandhill,  and  whooping  cranes," 
and  pigeons.  There  is,  however,  a  permanent 
closed  season  on  all  cranes,  though  many  States 
still  retain  the  mourning  dove  on  their  list  of 
game-birds. 

Birds  as  game,  as  defined  by  law  in  England, 
are  far  fewer  in  number  than  in  America.  Under 
the  law  they  are  ^^  pheasants,  partridges,  grouse, 
heath  or  moor  game,  black  game,  and  bustards'' 
— two  natural  orders  or  groups,  as  against  ^we 
found  in  America.  These  are  ofiicial  game,  but 
shorebirds  and  wild-fowl,  though  not  officially 
such,  are  treated  as  game  and  come  under  the  Wild 
Birds  Protection  Act  of  1880. 

2 

The  Number  of  Game-Birds  in  the  United  States 

According  to  the  definition,  and  including  the 
pigeon  group,  there  are  at  the  present  time  roughly 


238     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

170  possible  kinds  of  game-bird  in  the  United 
States.  This,  however,  is  a  considerable  overesti- 
mate of  what  sportsmen  are  actually  permitted  to 
shoot.  Limitations  have  been  placed  on  virtually 
every  natural  group,  considerably  narrowing  the 
number  of  species  eligible  for  the  gun  of  the 
hunter. 

Some  forms  have  been  removed  for  an  indefinite 
period  from  the  active  game  list ;  others  are  only 
temporarily  absent.  For  example,  the  crane 
group  has  been  placed  entirely  and  for  all  time 
out  of  reach  of  the  sportsman.  Of  the  fifty  or 
more  species  of  ducks,  geese,  and  swans,  the  wood- 
duck  and  several  forms  of  eider-duck  have  been 
removed,  probably  forever,  and  swans  have  a  long 
temporary  respite.  Quail,  prairie  chickens,  and 
turkeys  in  many  States  are  given  closed  seasons 
of  five  to  ten  years,  or  permanent  exemption. 
Finally,  out  of  the  seventy-odd  species  of  shore- 
birds  and  snipe,  only  six  are  eligible  for  shooting : 
the  woodcock,  Wilson  snipe,  greater  and  lesser 
yellowlegs,  and  black-breasted  and  golden  plover. 

Thus  the  number  of  game-birds  residing  in  the 
United  States  that  can  be  shot  falls  to  consider- 
ably less  than  a  hundred.  Subtracting  from  these 
the  several  species  of  grouse  and  ptarmigan  which 
inhabit  only  Alaska,  together  with  those  birds 
which  are  rare  visitants  to  the  border  States  from 
Mexico,  there  are  left  less  than  seventy-five  bona- 
fide  species  to  be  utilized  as  game. 


GAME-BIRDS  239 

But  the  seventy-five  are  sufficient  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  all  sportsmen,  if  the  sportsmen  are 
not  too  prodigal  with  their  guns.  After  our  great 
object-lesson  in  destruction  which  took  place  dur- 
ing the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century,  when  98 
per  cent,  of  our  native  game  was  mped  out,  such  a 
statement  as  the  above  is  perhaps  a  bold  one  to 
make.  But  modern  methods  of  legislation  and 
conservation  have  satisfactorily  demonstrated 
that  it  is  possible  to  rejuvenate  the  reduced  stock 
of  game-birds  to  meet  the  increasing  needs  of  the 
time.  We  have  sufficient  kinds  of  game-birds  left, 
and  if  the  sportsmen  of  the  present  and  future  will 
cooperate  in  their  proper  protection  there  will 
always  be  sufficient  numbers. 


The  Tragedy  of  the  Water-Fowl 

This  is  not  the  place,  however,  to  enter  into  a 
discussion  of  conservation  and  protection.  In- 
stead we  shall  describe  some  of  the  causes  which 
led  the  United  States  to  turn  so  seriously  to  them. 

As  has  been  stated,  the  early  settlers  discov- 
ered in  America  a  veritable  paradise  of  wild  life, 
both  animal  and  bird.  The  writers  of  that  day 
were  profuse  in  their  expressions  of  wonder  at 
its  abundance.  And  most  numerous  of  all  were 
the  water-fowl.  The  coastal  bays  were  literally 
covered  with  ducks  and  banked  with  countless 


240    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

droves  of  snowy  geese,  swans,  and  brant.  Their 
multitudes  made  an  inspiring  sight. 

As  the  colonies  grew  older  and  became  more 
firmly  established,  the  settlers  began  to  kill  the 
water-fowl  on  a  large  scale.  The  demands  of 
their  increasing  households  called  for  greater 
slaughter.  Many  people  owned  slaves  w^ho  had  to 
be  fed.  Wild  ducks  and  geese  were  cheap  and  not 
difficult  to  procure,  being  easily  trapped.  Thou- 
sands were  slain  for  food.  They  became  a  staple 
article  of  diet  for  slaves  and  indentured  servants. 
They  graced  the  tables  of  the  landed  proprietors. 

As  a  result  of  this  excessive  diet  of  water-fowl, 
the  slaves  on  one  estate  in  Maryland  went  on  a 
strike,  refusing  to  work  until  they  received  a 
promise  that  they  should  be  fed  no  more  wild 
ducks.  And  paid  servants  made  an  agreement 
with  their  masters  that  they  should  not  be  forced 
to  eat  canvasbacks  more  than  twice  a  week ! 

But,  great  as  the  slaughter  was,  it  failed  to  make 
a  deep  impression  on  the  enormous  flocks  which  in-. 
habited  the  great  bays  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  The 
killing  continued  without  abatement  throughout 
the  early  days  of  the  United  States,  but  as  late  as 
1882  rafts  of  ducks  a  mile  long  were  still  observed 
in  Chesapeake  Bay.  And  by  that  time,  during  the 
open  season  for  the  birds,  ten  thousand  people 
daily  gunned  along  the  shores  and  marshes  which 
fringe  that  water.  They  were  now  using  breech- 
loaders, and  the  toll  upon  the  ducks  was  heavy. 


GAME-BIRDS  241 

Bags  of  two  hundred  birds  to  a  gun  were  not  un- 
common. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  water-fowl  were  as  numer- 
ous as  on  the  Atlantic.  Serious  killing  of  them, 
however,  did  not  begin  until  after  the  Civil  War, 
but  then,  because  of  modern  weapons,  it  proceeded 
rapidly.  Snow  geese  in  1878  were  so  plentiful 
that  crops  to  the  amount  of  $200,000  were  de- 
stroyed by  them  in  one  county  of  California.  As 
recently  as  1906  two  men  shot  450  geese  in  one 
day;  but  now,  sixteen  years  later,  the  birds  are 
scarce.  Not  one  tenth  the  number  of  geese  and 
ducks  that  showed  themselves  in  California  during 
their  annual  migrations  fifty  years  ago  show  them- 
selves to-day. 

The  story  of  water-fowl  in  the  Middle  West  has 
been  much  the  same.  Fifty  years  ago  the  lakes 
and  sloughs  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Indiana,  and 
other  Central  States  teemed  with  tens  of  millions 
of  ducks.  Every  stream  and  marsh  was  the  feed- 
ing-spot of  great  flocks;  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi lay  in  the  direct  line  of  migration  of  the  birds 
which  breed  in  upper  Canada  and  places  further 
north.  Throughout  the  autumn  months  a  steady 
stream  flowed  slowly  south,  sometimes  darkening 
the  sky  with  its  multitudes. 

And  these  birds  were  killed  by  the  hundred 
thousand.  The  pioneer  settlers  utilized  them  as 
food.  Later,  so-called  sportsmen  shot  them  for 
the  sheer  pleasure  of  killing  and  for  their  feathers ; 


242    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

breech-loading  shot-guns  spelled  their  death. 
With  the  development  of  the  Middle  West,  duck 
shooting  came  more  and  more  into  fashion.  Each 
slough,  each  marsh,  and  every  small  water-hole 
became  lined  with  blinds  which  hid  scores  of  gun- 
ners. S'o  fast  did  the  birds  arrive  at  the  shooting 
grounds  that  a  man  might  fire  continuously  from 
daylight  to  dark,  or  until  the  barrels  of  his  gun 
were  too  hot  to  hold. 

There  was  little  use  for  decoys  in  those  days; 
the  ducks  were  too  numerous  for  the  sportsmen  to 
bother  with  putting  them  out.  The  ponds  and 
sloughs  were  small — almost  too  small  for  all  the 
ducks  to  crowd  into.  And  seldom  was  the  chance 
offered  them  except  at  night,  and  then  their 
densely  packed  masses  were  likely  to  be  mangled 
by  the  discharge  of  a  cannon  crammed  with  shot. 

This  slaughter  in  the  Middle  West  continued 
for  nearly  two  generations,  increasing  as  the  years 
progressed  and  as  more  deadly  arms  were  devel- 
oped. The  result  was  inevitably  the  same  as  had 
overtaken  the  water-fowl  everywhere  else.  Their 
ranks  were  thinned  almost  to  obliteration.  It  is 
no  longer  possible  for  a  man,  even  if  he  were  per- 
mitted to  do  so  by  law,  to  obtain  in  two  hours' 
shooting,  a  wagon-load  of  ducks.  Thirty  birds 
now  represent  a  full  and  wholly  satisfactory  day  ^s 
shoot. 

The  surviving  remnants  of  this  once  incalcul- 
able fauna  of  water-fowl  still  inhabit  our  coasts 


GAME-BIKDS  243 

and  inland  waters.  Ten  years  ago  those  rem- 
nants were  meager  indeed — a  mere  fraction  of  1 
per  cent,  of  what  they  were  a  century  earlier. 
Now,  however,  under  the  stimulus  of  revised  State 
legislation  and  Federal  protection,  they  show 
signs  of  recuperation;  and  it  is  possible  that 
within  another  decade  their  numbers  will  be  suffi- 
ciently recovered  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
extinction  which  so  recently  threatened. 


The  Tragedy  of  the  Shorebirds 

Shorebirds  in  America  have  followed  the  same 
trail  as  water-fowl.  Their  destruction  was  even 
more  rapid  than  that  of  ducks,  being  accomplished 
in  a  much  shorter  time.  The  birds  are  compara- 
tively small  and  therefore  for  years  were  consid- 
ered unworthy  of  the  expenditure  of  powder  and 
shot.  But,  with  the  decrease  of  the  supply  of 
water-fowl  and  a  proportionate  enlargement  of 
the  army  of  market  hunters  and  sportsmen,  their 
doom  was  sealed. 

There  was  a  time,  scarcely  a  generation  ago, 
when  the  yellowlegs,  black-breasted  plover,  golden 
plover,  and  curlews  very  nearly  rivaled  in  num- 
bers the  great  hosts  of  ducks.  The  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  coasts.  Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  and  Alaska 
to  southern  California,  from  July  to  November, 
literally  swarmed  with  their  southward-moving 


244    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

throngs.  Thousands  of  stilts,  avocets,  and  cur- 
lews bred  on  the  great  marshes  of  California,  and 
the  great  prairies  were  the  home  of  more  curlews. 
On  the  Atlantic  shores  the  ocean  beach  appeared 
alive  ^^^th  countless  millions  of  tiny,  restless  san- 
derlings,  skirting  the  wave  fringes  on  rapid  tmn- 
kling  feet,  filling  their  little  bodies  with  the  minute 
Crustacea  which  burrowed  there.  Great  flocks  of 
minute  sandpipers  ranged  the  salt  marshes.  Mud 
flats  were  the  feeding  ground  of  thousands  of  wil- 
lets,  curlew,  robin-snipe,  dowitchers,  and  stilts. 
And  further  inland  the  quiet  of  the  fields  was  con- 
tinually broken  by  the  oft-repeated  call  of  the 
Bartramian  sandpiper  and  the  *'kil-kill-d-e-e-r  !^' 
of  the  killdeer  plover. 

But  those  days  have  been  relegated  to  the  past. 
Shorebirds  have  a  nature  too  trusting  for  their 
own  best  welfare ;  they  love  too  well  the  company 
of  their  kind.  Their  calls  are  not  difficult  to  imi- 
tate; and  these,  arising  from  the  lips  of  the  con- 
cealed hunter,  together  with  the  attractive  array 
of  decoys  he  has  arranged  on  the  flat  near  his 
blind,  are  sufficient  to  entice  the  unsuspecting 
birds  to  their  destruction.  Nor  do  they  -seem  to 
learn  by  experience  to  avoid  gun-infested  flats. 
Some  species  will  return  again  and  again  to  the 
wooden  decoys,  each  time  losing  some  of  their 
number  by  gun-fire,  until  perhaps  the  flock  is  ex- 
terminated. Or,  if  excessively  frightened  the  first 
time,  they  will  leave  that  flat  and  proceed  on  their 


GAME-BIRDS  245 

journey  southward,  only  to  forget  their  experience 
before  an  hour  has  passed  and  plunge  eagerly  into 
the  decoys  at  the  next  blind  they  come  to. 

It  is  not  difficult,  then,  to  understand  why,  in 
the  days  of  unlimited  game-bags,  shorebirds  lost 
the  number  of  their  mess.  The  tiny  sandpipers, 
too  small  to  shoot  singly,  could  be  mowed  down  by 
the  score  at  a  shot.  The  little  surf  sanderlings 
succumbed  in  the  same  manner,  a  hundred  or  two 
hundred  constituting  a  day's  shoot  for  one  gun. 
Willets  and  curlew,  because  of  their  large  size, 
were  specially  sought  after,  and  some  species  met 
total  extirpation.  Robin-snipe  (knots)  were  stu- 
pid enough  not  to  be  frightened  by  gun-fire  and 
became  virtually  extinct  ten  years  ago.  Yellow- 
legs,  black-breaated  plover,  and  gfolden  plover 
alone  retain  some  semblance  of  their  former  num- 
bers, but  these  have  been  woefully  reduced. 

Among  the  hills  and  valleys,  on  pastures  and 
hay-fields,  the  upland  plover  met  a  like  fate.  The 
Bartramian  sandpiper  proved  a  warier  bird  than 
his  brethren  of  the  shore,  but  he  finally  fell  victim 
to  the  gun  in  the  hands  of  the  farmer 's  boy.  Kill- 
deer  still  live,  a  remnant  of  their  former  strength, 
and  at  last  are  protected  everywhere. 

But,  like  the  water-fowl,  shorebirds,  although 
their  numbers  were  once  brought  to  a  low  ebb  by 
market  gunners  and  over-ambitious  sportsmen, 
are  showing  signs  of  recovery.  The  Federal 
Government  rigidly  protects  them.    Two  species 


246    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

of  yellowlegs  and  two  of  plover  alone  remain  on 
the  shooting  list.  All  the  others  are  compara- 
tively safe  until  their  original  numbers  have  been 
regained.  And  among  those  that  return  to  our 
shores  each  spring  and  autumn  in  ever-increasing 
flocks  are  the  curlew,  knot,  and  willet,  three  birds 
which  under  short  open  seasons  will  provide  ex- 
cellent shooting  for  the  sportsmen  of  the  future. 


The  Tragedy  of  the  Upland  Birds 

Turning  now  to  the  true  game-birds,  as  defined 
by  English  law,  we  come  to  the  most  important 
group  which  inhabits  America.  Outstanding 
among  them  is  the  wild  turkey,  the  monarch  of  all 
game-fowl,  and  following  close  after  are  the 
grouse,  including  prairie  chickens,  and  the  ptar- 
migan and  quail. 

When  the  Mayflower  anchored  off  the  coast  of 
Massachusetts  the  wild  turkey  was  to  be  found 
throughout  all  the  forested  regions  of  North 
America  east  of  the  Mississippi.  But  the  size  of 
the  turkey  unfortunately  told  against  it.  It  was 
the  only  game-bird  whose  bodily  proportions  war- 
ranted the  expenditure  of  a  charge  of  powder  and 
a  bullet.  Its  flesh  proved  delicious  and  conse- 
quently was  greatly  sought  after.  As  a  result, 
even  in  colonial  days,  the  turkey  soon  became 
scarce  in  the  neighborhood  of  settlements. 


GAME-BIRDS  247 

Thus,  with  the  progress  of  the  years,  it  became 
relegated  more  and  more  to  the  backwoods.  As 
the  forests  were  cleared  and  the  country  devel- 
oped it  withdrew  still  further,  until  finally  the 
native  stock  became  entirely  extinct  in  New  Eng- 
land and,  indeed,  in  all  the  northeastern  States 
with  the  exception  of  Pennsylvania.  Throughout 
the  Middle  West  it  has  been  extirpated — in  Wis- 
consin, Iowa,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  and 
Texas.  These  States  form  a  dead-line  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  inclose 
a  solid  group  of  Southern  territory  where  the 
turkey  is  still  to  be  found  in  its  native  condition. 

The  turkey  is  naturally  a  wary  bird,  always 
difficult  to  find  and  never  easy  to  stalk.  Unlike 
the  prairie  chicken,  it  never  congregates  in  great 
flocks  and  therefore  does  not  place  itself  in  a  posi- 
tion to  invite  wholesale  slaughter.  To-day  it  is 
carefully  guarded  in  all  the  localities  where  it  lives, 
and  in  most  States  only  gobblers  are  permitted  to 
be  shot. 

There  was  once  a  day  when  the  heath  hen  was 
one  of  the  most  plentiful  game-birds  in  the  north- 
eastern States,  but  that  day  is  long  past.  Like  the 
canvasbacks  of  the  Chesapeake,  the  heath  hens 
were  delicious  eating  and  were  slaughtered  for 
the  market  without  thought  of  the  future.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands  were  shot  or  netted  every  year 
in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  New  England,  until 
suddenly  there  were  no  more  birds  to  kill.    And 


.248    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

when  the  Eastern  States  awoke  to  the  fact  that 
something  must  be  done  to  preserve  the  species, 
it  was  too  late.  The  heath  hens  were  gone.  The 
remnant,  a  paltry  few  hundred,  alone  still  sur- 
vive at  Martha  ^s  Vineyard  in  Massachusetts. 

Prairie  chickens  barely  escaped  the  same  fate. 
Inhabitants  of  the  open  prairies,  crouching  to  a 
pointing  dog  and  present  in  indefinite  numbers, 
they  are  particularly  eligible  for  the  gun  in  the 
hands  of  the  hunter. 

And  as  soon  as  the  open  land  of  the  West  had 
been  settled,  the  hunter  was  not  slow  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunity  presented  him.  Pro- 
fessional hunters  first  sold  the  birds  to  the  trains 
of  emigrants  which  in  the  fifties  and  sixties  wound 
across  the  great  open  plains ;  then,  as  towns  began 
to  spring  up,  they  disposed  of  them  to  the  shop- 
keepers. Prairie  chickens  succumbed  in  thou- 
sands. 

Presently  they  were  shot  for  sport;  and  their 
habit  of  gathering  in  large  flocks  cleared  the  way 
for  their  destroyers.  Once  a  flock  was  discovered, 
continuous  shooting  was  assured  for  the  day.  It 
was  a  common  custom  for  so-called  sportsmen — in 
reality  ^'game-hogs'' — to  drive  to  the  shooting- 
ground  in  wagons  and  not  to  return  home  until  the 
vehicles  were  filled  with  birds. 

If  automobiles  had  been  invented  while  chicken 
shooting  was  in  its  prime,  the  demise  of  the  spe- 
cies would  have  followed  much  sooner.    Several 


GAME-BIRDS  249 

trips  to  and  from  town  could  have  been  made  in  a 
day  and  there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  in 
filling  the  cars  each  time. 

Prairie  chickens  indeed  were  unfortunate  crea- 
tures, and  yet,  with  the  exception  of  the  turkey, 
they  w^ere  the  finest  game-birds  America  pro- 
duced. Harassed  by  an  ever-growing  army  of 
gunners  who  recognized  this  fact,  but  who  through 
greediness  would  not  relinquish  their  efforts  to- 
ward extermination  of  the  species,  the  birds  were 
soon  confronted  by  a  second  great  enemy — the 
plow.  The  world  had  raised  a  cry  for  more 
wheat,  and  the  alluvial  soil  of  the  prairies  was  re- 
sponding. The  boundless  miles  of  thick  sod  were 
being  turned  into  waving  oceans  of  brown  grain. 
The  days  of  prairie-fowl  were  numbered;  their 
nests  were  disappearing  beneath  the  plow. 

It  perhaps  was  fortunate  for  the  existence  of 
the  prairie-chickens  that  cultivation  of  the  land 
did  come.  So  great  had  been  the  slaughter  from 
guns  that  their  ranks  had  already  been  thinned ;  in 
some  localities  they  had,  indeed,  been  extermi- 
nated. Guns,  without  a  doubt,  would  soon  have 
accounted  for  their  total  and  irretrievable  eradi- 
cation; but  the  process  would  have  been  gradual 
and  scarcely  seen  by  the  sportsmen  until  it  was 
too  late  to  save  the  birds.  With  the  arrival  of  the 
plow,  however,  the  decrease  of  the  chicken  popula- 
tion was  so  rapid  that  the  sportsman  could  not 
fail  to  observe  it.     The  plow  was  something  tangi- 


250    THE  IMPOETANCB  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ble  to  lay  the  blame  against, — for  what  gunner 
could  ever  bring  himself  to  blame  his  gun? — and 
before  long  legislative  machinery  was  set  in  mo- 
tion which  finally  led  to  a  closer  protection  of  the 
birds.  The  open  season  for  shooting  was  cut 
short,  and,  as  the  movement  toward  conservation 
grew,  shooting  was  entirely  prohibited  in  some 
States.  Thus  to-day,  though  there  is  but  the  slim- 
mest scattering  of  the  birds  left  as  compared  with 
their  former  millions,  it  no  longer  seems  possible 
that  they  will  follow  in  the  way  of  the  heath  hen. 

In  the  ruffed  grouse  we  find  almost  as  excellent 
a  game-bird  as  the  prairie  chicken.  Unlike  the 
latter,  it  is  a  denizen  of  the  forest,  a  lover  of  glades 
and  berry  patches.  And,  with  the  exception  of 
Kansas,  it  still  persists  in  every  State  that  was 
originally  its  native  home.  Its  numbers,  however, 
are  not  as  large  as  formerly. 

The  colonials  found  the  forests  filled  with  birds 
but  for  many  generations  left  them  comparatively 
alone.  It  was  with  the  arrival  of  the  modern 
shot-gun  that  the  grouse  commenced  seriously  to 
suffer.  Being  naturally  of  a  stupid,  unsuspicious 
temperament,  they  at  first  took  to  the  trees  at  the 
approach  of  the  gunner  and  there  easily  fell  vic- 
tim to  his  aim.  MilHons  were  slaughtered  in  this 
way  in  a  very  few  years,  and  in  some  localities  the 
birds  became  scarce.  The  probable  saving  of 
their  race  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  dwelt  in 
the  deep  forest,  which  was  penetrated  only  by  the 


GAME-BIRDS  251 

big-game  hunters.  From  this  habit  they  ob- 
tained a  sort  of  immunity,  for  the  gunner  would 
not  spare  time  to  hunt  birds  when  there  were 
bear,  deer,  or  moose  to  be  taken. 

But  in  localities  where  their  ranks  had  been 
greatly  thinned,  a  rapid  change  seemed  to  take 
place  in  the  temperamental  character  of  the  ruffed 
grouse.  Its  blunted  sense  of  fear  seemed  sud- 
denly to  alter  into  extreme  timidity.  Where  be- 
fore the  bird  had  stupidly  listened  to  the  hunter's 
footsteps  with  scarcely  a  thought  that  they  might 
presage  danger,  it  now  became  a  wild,  wary,  vigi- 
lant creature,  that  took  alarm  while  the  gunner 
was  still  a  hundred  yards  off.  It  developed  an 
expert  knowledge  of  the  art  of  dodging  behind 
tree-trunks  during  flight  and  running  before  dogs 
until  a  dense  thicket  could  be  reached  where  it  was 
possible  to  rise  unseen,  startling  the  gunner  with 
the  roar  of  its  wings  and  never  offering  him  a  shot. 
It  has  proved  one  of  those  rare  wild  creatures 
which,  if  left  alone,  rapidly  grows  tame,  but  which, 
if  much  hunted,  learns  even  more  quickly  to  dodge 
and  keep  out  of  the  way. 

It  is  due  wholly  to  this  quick  assimilation  of 
wildness  that  the  ruffed  grouse  owes  its  longev- 
ity in  thickly  settled  areas.  In  the  forests  of 
Maine  and  Michigan  it  is  still  plentiful  and,  be- 
cause it  is  not  over-hunted,  appears  tame  and 
stupid.  But  let  the  sportsman  enter  the  forests 
of  New  Jersey,  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  even  the  scrub- 


252    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

oaks  of  Long  Island,  and  while  he  may  see  or 
hear  a  dozen  in  a  morning  it  is  doubtful  if  he  will 
obtain  a  full  bag  that  day ;  and  he  will  report  that 
there  are  plenty  of  birds. 

Now  that  the  wild  turkey  and  the  prairie 
chicken  have  passed  their  zenith  of  popularity, 
the  game-bird  which  supplied  the  most  sport  is 
the  quail,  represented  in  the  East  by  the  bob- 
white  and  in  the  West  by  the  California  quail 
and  a  few  allied  species.  These  birds  are  so  in- 
significant in  size  that  they  escaped  the  weapons 
of  sportsmen  until  the  nineteenth  century  was 
well  begun.  Quail  were  immune  while  larger 
game  remained  near  the  settlements. 

The  day  came,  however, — ^first  on  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  then  further  inland, — when  turkeys  had 
grown  scarce,  heath  hens  were  extinct,  and  ruffed 
grouse  had  withdrawn  deep  into  the  wood.  Then 
followed  the  attack  on  the  bob-white,  a  bird  of  the 
open  thickets.  By  1900  virtually  all  the  north- 
eastern States  had  been  cleared  of  this  native  spe- 
cies. A  remnant  of  its  former  numbers  remained 
here  and  there  in  isolated  districts,  but  the  race 
as  a  whole  was  on  the  verge  of  extinction. 

In  the  South,  however,  the  bob-white  held  on. 
The  cover  there  was  denser,  sportsmen  were 
fewer,  and  there  were  still  turkeys  and  other  large 
game  to  be  had.  But,  as  the  quail  population 
waned  in  the  North,  sportsmen  turned  their  atten- 
tion southward.    Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia, 


GAME-BIRDS  253 

And  Florida  became  vast  slaughter  grounds  for 
the  birds.  Their  numbers  decreased,  but  the  spe- 
cies clung  to  existence.  Even  to-day  quail  are 
still  plentiful  in  the  Southern  States. 

Next  to  prairie  chicken,  quail  present  to  the 
sportsman  the  ideal  form  of  upland  shooting. 
They  are  to  be  found  in  the  overgrown  fields  or 
low  open  thickets  in  coveys  of  a  dozen  to  twenty 
birds.  A  pointer  or  setter  easily  picks  up  their 
strong  scent.  They  are  not  difficult  to  trail  and 
afford  an  opportunity  for  the  dogs  to  show  up  at 
their  best.  When  the  covey  is  shot  into  it  scat- 
ters temporarily  in  all  directions;  single  birds 
are  then  difficult  to  locate  and  strain  the  ingenuity 
both  of  men  and  dogs.  Bob-white  quail  afford 
both  pleasure  and  exercise  to  the  sportsman;  but 
unfortunately,  unless  more  stringent  laws  are  en- 
acted toward  their  preservation,  there  soon  will 
be  none  left  to  shoot. 

The  same  condition  is  true  of  the  California 
quail.  These  birds  have  been  brought  within  the 
last  thirty  years  to  the  very  edge  of  extinction. 
Unlike  the  bob-white,  their  coveys  sometimes 
consisted  of  as  many  as  five  hundred  individu- 
als. N-ow  the  improvident  gunner  seldom  sees 
more  than  one  tenth  of  that  number  together. 

The  remaining  groups  of  official  American 
game-birds  are  small  and  of  far  less  importance 
than  those  already  touched  upon.  Rails  are  es- 
sentially marsh  birds,  and,  although  fifteen  are 


254    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

listed  as  inhabiting  the  United  States,  only  the 
Virginia  and  clapper  rails  hold  any  importance 
as  game.  They  generally  are  shot  when  high 
tide  floods  the  meadows  which  are  their  home, 
when  they  are  prevented  from  running  from  the 
gunner  and  must  seek  safety  in  flight.  Coots 
also  belong  to  this  same  general  group  and 
in  some  localities  are  highly  prized  for  their 
flesh. 

Pigeons  as  game-birds  are  no  longer  important. 
Fifty  years  ago,  when  the  passenger  pigeons  were 
so  numerous  as  to  darken  the  sun  at  times  with 
their  flocks,  they  afforded  an  excellent  mark  for 
slaughter ;  but  those  days  are  gone,  and  that  bird 
is  extinct.  The  killing  of  the  Carolina  dove  is 
permitted  in  many  Southern  States,  and  until 
recently  enormous  numbers  were  annually  slain. 
It  was  the  custom  to  bait  the  birds  by  scattering 
grain.  When  the  time  was  ripe  a  number  of 
men  would  collect  at  the  selected  spot  and  thou- 
sands of  doves  would  die.  This  practice,  however^ 
has  been  discontinued  almost  everywhere.  Again, 
the  band-tailed  pigeon*  of  California  and  neigh- 
boring States  a  few  years  ago  bade  fair  to  go  the 
way  of  the  passenger  pigeon,  but  promiscuous 
shooting  was  stopped  in  time  to  save  the  species. 
The  remaining  birds  of  this  group — mainly 
ground-doves — are  immune  because  of  their  small 
size. 


GAME-BIRDS  255 


Enemies  of  Game-Birds 

The  weapons  of  man,  however,  are  not  the  only 
agencies  at  work  on  the  destruction  of  game-birds- 
Nature  takes  a  hand  now  and  then.  Disease  has 
been  known  to  ravage  prairie  chickens,  ruffed 
grouse,  and  quail  throughout  great  areas  of  terri- 
tory, almost  extirpating  the  birds  from  the  in- 
fected regions.  The  ''grouse  disease"  has  wiped 
out  of  existence  tens  of  thousands  of  black  game, 
grouse,  and  partridge  in  England  and  Europe. 
No  less  than  ten  million*  wild  ducks  have  died 
within  the  last  five  years  in  the  reaches  of  Great 
Salt  Lake  from  an  intestinal  trouble  caused  by 
the  chemical  constituents  of  the  water.  The  dead 
can  be  counted  in  the  marshes  by  the  thousand; 
they  drift  in  great  masses  upon  the  lake  surface, 
and  the  sloughs  in  some  localities  cannot  be  ap- 
proached because  of  the  horrible  stench  arising 
from  them. 

Fires,  next  to  disease,  account  for  great  num- 
bers of  game-birds.  The  terrible  prairie-fires 
which  at  one  time  swept  across  the  plains  car- 
ried destruction  to  multitudes  of  wild  chickens. 
Not  only  were  numerous  birds  burned,  but  their 
nests,  eggs,  and  young  were  consumed.  The 
great  forest  conflagrations  in  Maine  and  other 
wooded  regions  cause  the  death  of  thousands  of 


256     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ruffed  grouse.  Some  localities,  as,  for  instance, 
Long  Island,  have  been  swept  virtually  clean  of 
these  birds  by  the  burning  of  their  forests. 

Next  in  importance  come  the  depredations  by 
birds  of  prey  and  vermin.  Game-birds  of  the 
open  lands  are  specially  susceptible  to  their  at- 
tacks. During  the  winter  months,  while  snow 
lies  deep  on  the  ground,  all  ground-birds  are  par- 
ticularly liable  to  attack  from  the  air.  Their  dark 
bodies  show  up  well  against  the  white  background 
of  snow,  and  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  hawks.  It 
is  believed  that  the  shortage  of  ruffed  grouse  a  few 
years  ago  in  the  northeastern  States  was  largely 
the  result  of  an  influx  of  predatory  birds,  mainly 
the  great-horned  owl  and  the  goshawk,  from  the 
North.  These  meat-eating  birds  were  driven 
south  in  search  of  food  by  a  shortage  of  snow- 
shoe  rabbits  in  the  North. 

Lynxes,  coyotes,  foxes,  minks,  and  weasels  take 
a  large  toll  of  game-birds,  although  each  one  of 
them  prefers  some  other  kind  of  flesh  if  it  can  be 
easily  obtained.  Dogs,  when  permitted  to  roam 
at  will,  kill  many  birds,  especially  the  young  un- 
able to  fly,  and  destroy  large  numbers  of  nests  and 
eggs.  Domestic  cats  grown  wild,  however,  prove 
the  greatest  enemies  of  small  birds,  including  the 
quail.  They  annually  kill  and  devour  several 
million  valuable  birds  in  the  United  States,  and 
probably  are  accountable  for  more  damage  to  the 


GAME-BIRDS  257 

quail  species  than  all  the  dogs,  foxes,  minks,  and 
weasels  combined. 

As  has  already  been  mentioned,  the  destruction 
of  nests  by  cultivation  has  played  havoc  among 
the  prairie  birds.  It  has  also  aided  materially  in 
decreasing  the  number  of  quail.  Virtually  all 
game-birds  have  the  unfortunate  habit  of  nesting 
on  the  ground.  The  eggs  generally  are  deposited 
just  about  the  time  the  farmer  is  sharpening  his 
plow-points  for  the  spring  plowing,  and  the  nests 
are  turned  under,  usually  without  his  knowledge 
of  their  existence.  At  harvest  time  his  mowing- 
machine  is  ready  to  catch  the  later  broods. 

Finally,  the  automobile  proves  a  deadly  enemy 
of  destruction.  The  employment  of  cars  in  hunt- 
ing is  a  serious  menace  to  the  existence  of  all 
game.  With  its  power  of  eating  up  the  miles,  a 
greater  number  of  birds  is  brought  within  reach 
of  the  gunner  than  is  to  be  had  by  walking.  The 
bags  of  game  are  increased,  and  the  birds  face 
extinction  sooner.  Dr.  William  T.  Hornaday 
states  the  case  quite  clearly: 

...  I  have  seen  them  in  action.  A  load  of  three 
or  four  gunners  is  whirled  up  to  a  likely  mountain-side 
for  ruffed  grouse,  and  presently  the  banging  begins.  Af- 
ter an  hour  or  so  spent  in  combing  out  the  birds,  the 
hunters  jump  in,  whirl  away  in  a  dust-cloud  to  another 
spot  two  miles  away,  and  ' '  bang-  bang-bang ' '  again.  Af- 
ter that,  a  third  locality;  and  so  on,  covering  six  or 


258    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

eight  times  the  territory  that  a  man  in  a  buggy  or  on 
foot,  could  possibly  shoot  over  in  the  same  time ! 

The  use  of  automobiles  in  hunting  wild-fowl  is 
prohibited  in  North  Dakota,  alone  of  all  our 
States. 


Protection  and  Conservation 

There  is  no  bird-shooting  sportsman  alive  in 
America  who  does  not  with  a  whole  heart  regret 
the  demise  of  the  heath  hen,  the  Eskimo  curlew, 
or  the  prairie  chicken.  He  would  give  a  great 
deal  to  sight  one  of  those  chickens  over  his  gun- 
barrel,  or  sink  his  carving-knife  once  more  into 
the  luscious  breast  of  a  canvasback  duck.  He 
would  delight  in  hearing  the  clear  whistle  of  the 
bob-white  in  the  fields  back  of  his  house.  If  he 
could  shoot  a  wild  turkey  without  having  to 
travel  to  Arkansas  or  Florida  to  do  it,  he  would  be- 
lieve that  the  millennium  of  the  sportsman  had 
arrived. 

And  yet  he  has  permitted  a  -blight  to  overtake 
his  birds.  There  is  only  one  remedy,  and  he  him- 
self must  see  that  it  is  applied.  That  is  in- 
creased protection  and  conservation  of  our  wild 
game-bird  resources. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


GAME-LAWS 


1.  Laws  of  England.  2.  Laws  of  America.  5.  Evolution  of 
Game-Laws  in  America.  4.  State  Game-Laws.  5,  Federal 
Laws.     6.  Effect  of  Game-Laws  upon  Birds. 


Laws  of  England 

The  destruction  of  birds  throughout  the  world 
for  food  has  led  to  a  wide  diversity  of  opinion  in 
different  countries  concerning  their  right  to  exis- 
tence. The  question  involved  is  a  serious  one  for 
the  birds.  Some  nations  have  it  that  they  are 
the  property  of  the  individual  citizen;  others 
regard  them  as  owned  by  the  State,  or  at  least 
held  by  the  State  in  trust  for  the  people  as  a 
whole.  It  is  upon  the  latter  principle  that  all 
effective  game-law  systems  have  been  built  up. 

In  Italy,  where  all  birds  are  considered  the  pri- 
vate property  of  any  person  who  desires  to  take 
them,  the  Government  is  unable  to  make  effective 
laws  for  their  protection,  even  if  it  evinced  any 
wish  to  do  so.  As  free  men  the  Italians  claim  the 
right  to  kill  game  whenever  they  please  and  wher- 
ever they  please.    Any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 

259 


260     THE  IMPOETANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

Government  to  curtail  their  liberty  would  be  con- 
sidered a  controversion  of  the  rights  of  all  free 
citizens.  As  a  result  there  is  scarcely  a  native 
bird  left  on  the  entire  peninsula  of  Italy. 

Very  ditferent,  however,  is  the  attitude  of  that 
sport-loving  nation,  England.  The  principle 
upon  which  she  acts  is  that  the  killing  of  birds  is 
subservient  to  laws  formulated  by  the  state;  in 
other  words,  that  birds  primarily  belong  to  the 
state  and  only  secondarily  to  the  private  individ- 
uals upon  whose  land  they  may  be  found. 

The  first  English  law  for  the  protection  of  game 
of  any  kind  was  enacted  during  the  time  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  forbidding  the  killing  of 
deer  by  any  persons  except  those  who  were  of 
royal  blood  or  who  had  special  permission  from  the 
king.  Later,  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II,  deer  or 
game-birds  might  be  taken  by  socially  fitted  per- 
sons qualified  by  social  position  or  by  landed 
estates  that  brought  them  an  income  of  more 
than  £100  per  annum.  All  game,  however,  was 
considered  the  property  of  the  crown. 

Although  most  of  the  early  game-laws  were 
manifestly  unfair  to  every  one  but  the  ruling 
power,  they  at  least  prevented  a  swift  extermina- 
tion of  birds  and  four-footed  beasts.  They  em- 
bodied also  the  principle  of  state  ownership  of 
game,  the  foundation  upon  which  modem  British 
laws  are  based.  Wild  birds  and  animals  now  be- 
long to  the  land,  and  the  Grovernment  reserves 


GAME-LAWS  261 

the  right  to  devise  laws  for  their  protection  and 
preservation.  While  landowners  may  claim  title 
to  any  birds  reared  by  artificial  means,  they  can- 
not kill  them  except  during  specifically  stated 
seasons. 

Birds  thus  reared,  however,  belong  to  the  land 
on  which  they  live,  and  any  income  derived  from 
them  goes  to  the  property  holder.  In  this  way 
considerable  sums  are  returned  either  by  the  sale 
of  dead  game  in  season  or  by  leasing  the  shooting 
privileges  of  the  land.  To  give  some  idea  of  the 
actual  value  in  terms  of  money  of  these  *^  shoot- 
ings,'' the  gross  rental  of  grouse  moors  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  between  1905  and  1911  was 
estimated  as  returning  £1,270,000  annually  to 
their  owners. 

While  this  system  of  game-laws  tends  to  make 
it  difficult  for  any  person  not  endowed  with  wealth 
to  shoot,  it  prevents  the  extinction  of  upland  game 
which  would  follow  if,  in  such  a  densely  popu- 
lated country  as  England,  every  able-bodied  man 
entered  the  field  with  a  gun.  Water-fowl,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  entirely  the  property  of  the  state, 
and  any  one  may  shoot  them  if  he  will  pay  the 
license  fee  required. 

2 
Laws  of  America 
The  present  American  game-law  system,  though 


262     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

based  on  the  same  principle,  that  all  birds  belong 
to  the  state  and  not  to  the  individual,  differs  mate- 
rially from  that  of  Great  Britain.  Owing  to  the 
immense  territorial  size  of  the  United  States  and 
its  comparatively  sparse  population,  this  country 
has  been  enabled  to  devise  certain  variations  in 
the  British  system  which  are  more  equitable  to  the 
people  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
many  excellent  points  of  the  British  system  which 
are  woefully  lacking  in  America. 

The  American  form  of  government  differs  from 
anything  else  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  Our  United 
States  are  literally  States  within  a  state,  and  each 
State  reserves  certain  rights  for  itself.  These 
States*  rights,  unfortunately,  include,  among 
other  things,  the  power  to  make  game-laws  to  fit 
their  own  requirements  regardless  of  how  they 
may  atfect  neighboring  States. 

Thus,  a  generation  ago,  the  closed  season  for 
ducks  in  Minnesota  might  be  paralleled  by  an  open 
season  in  Iowa,  or  vice  versa.  Woodcock  might 
be  shot  in  New  Jersey  during  July,  but  not  until 
September  in  New  York.  Birds  which,  during  the 
migration  seasons,  traveled  from  one  State  to  an- 
other could  find  no  permanent  peace,  and  a 
general  thinning  of  their  ranks  was  the  result. 

Upon  the  gallinaceous  game-birds,  such  as 
grouse,  turkeys,  and  quail,  these  ill-matched  State 
laws  did  not  have  the  same  effect.    The  birds 


GAME-LAWS  263 

were  not  migratory;  they  lived  their  lives  in  the 
locality  where  they  were  born,  and  they  rightfully 
belonged  to  their  home  State.  But  with  ducks, 
shore-birds,  pigeons,  and  snipe  the  facts  were  en- 
tirely different;  no  one  State  could  call  them  its 
own;  they  might  visit  a  dozen  States  during  the 
year. 

This  chaotic  condition  of  State  game-laws  was 
finally  recognized  by  the  Federal  Government  as 
highly  detrimental  to  the  life  of  the  migratory 
species,  and  after  some  hesitation  the  Government 
established  game-laws  of  its  own.  It  asserted 
that  all  migratory  birds  which  traversed  several 
States  during  the  flying  season  were  its  property 
— that  they  belonged  to  the  United  States  as  a 
whole  and  not  to  any  single  individual  State. 
Federal  laws  were  accordingly  passed  for  their 
protection. 

These  laws  were  presently  upheld  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  and  now  form  the  founda- 
tion of  the  present  system  of  protection  for  migra- 
tory game-birds.  The  individual  States,  however, 
still  retain  their  right  to  control  the  non-migratory 
species,  whether  native  or  introduced  into  their 
territory.  Thus  there  are  to-day  two  kinds  of 
game-laws  in  the  United  States :  the  State  and  the 
Federal. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  of  the  United  States  Biolog- 
ical Survey  set  forth  in  ^^Bird  Lore''  in  1902  a 


264    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

list  of  principles  "apon  which  the  game-laws  then 
depended.^  These  are  much  the  same  to-day,  ex- 
cept that  the  control  of  some  birds  has  passed  ont 
of  the  hands  of  the  State  into  those  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government.  Those  slight  alterations  are 
indicated  by  italics  in  the  following  table  of  Dr. 
Palmer's  principles; 

(a)     State  Laws 

1.  All  non-migratory  wild  birds  are  the  property  of 
the  state ;  hence : 

2.  Killing  of  birds  is  a  privilege,  not  a  right. 

3.  State  ownership  of  birds  carries  with  it  the  right 
to  impose  restriction ;  hence : 

4.  Birds  may  be  captured,  possessed,  transported, 
bought,  or  sold  only  under  such  conditions  as  the  State 
prescribes. 

5.  Landowners  have  no  more  right  to  kill  birds  out 
of  season  than  other  persons,  unless  the  law  specifically 
grants  this  privilege. 

(b)     Federal  Laws 

6.  All  migratory  birds,  native  or  otherwise,  are  the 
property  of  the  United  States;  hence: 

7.  State  restrictions  concerning  them  pass  to  the  Fed- 
eral Government. 

8.  Non-migratory  birds  are  protected  by  the  Federal 
law  only  when  shipped  from  or  into  a  State  which  pro- 
tects them  by  a  local  law. 

9.  Birds  killed  or  shipped  contrary  to  law  in  any 
State  cannot  lawfully  be  transported  to  other  States. 

10.  Birds  brought  into  a  State  become  subject  to  its 

i"Bird  Lore";  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  70-81. 


GAME-LAWS  265 

laws  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  birds 
produced  in  that  State. 

11.  Packages  of  birds  shipped  from  one  State  to  an- 
other must  be  marked  so  as  to  show  the  name  of  the 
shipper  and  the  nature  of  the  contents. 

12.  Foreign  birds  can  be  imported  into  the  United 
States  only  under  permits  from  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  and  birds  declared  injurious  by 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  cannot  be  imported  into 
the  United  States  or  shipped  from  one  State  to  another. 

These,  then,  are  the  principles  upon  whicli  our 
present  game-laws  work;  but  first,  before  enter- 
ing into  a  discussion  of  their  merits,  let  us  see 
how  they  were  evolved. 


Evolution  of  Game-Laws  in  America 

It  is  not  quite  certain  when  the  first  game-law 
was  established  and  enforced  in  the  American 
colonies.  Sunday  shooting,  because  of  religious 
scruples,  was  early  prohibited  in  several  colonies. 
While  the  eighteenth  century  was  still  young,  a 
short  closed  season  for  turkeys,  heath  hens, 
ruffed  grouse,  and  quail  had  been  enacted  in 
New  York.  Massachusetts  in  1710  prohibited 
the  use  of  boats  or  canoes  with  sails,  or  boats 
dressed  in  grass,  for  the  hunting  of  water-fowl. 
Gradually  all  the  colonies  developed  some  sort 
of  code,  so  that  by  the  close  of  the  colonial  period 


266    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

at  least  twelve  of  them  had  enacted  game-laws, 
insufficient  though  they  were.  These  were  the 
forerunners  of  the  later  State  laws. 

The  early  game-laws,  though  entirely  in- 
adequate for  the  true  protection  of  game,  were 
steps  in  the  right  direction.  Although  at  the  time 
of  her  inception  as  a  nation  the  United  States  was 
the  great  exponent  of  the  rights  of  man,  she  recog- 
nized from  the  beginning  that  game  should  belong 
to  the  state  and  not  the  individual.  By  incorpo- 
rating her  colonial  laws  as  State  laws  she  at  once 
diverged  from  the  line  which  Italy  later  was  to 
follow — ^and  ultimately  saved  a  fraction  of  her 
game. 

By  the  opening  year  of  the  nineteenth  century 
fourteen  States  had  made  some  attempt  at  game 
legislation;  in  1850  nineteen  had  game-laws;  in 
1860,  thirty-one ;  and  by  1870,  forty-one.  But  the 
laws  were  ineffective;  their  enforcement  was  lax, 
and  little  real  protection  was  afforded  to  game. 
This  applied  to  birds  in  particular;  they  were 
plentiful  and  little  protection  was  considered 
necessary. 

Reforms,  however,  were  not  far  off.  Begin- 
ning with  1872,  the  old  system  of  long  open  sea- 
sons and  *^kill  as  many  birds  as  you  can '^  began  to 
give  way.  In  that  year  Maryland  opened  the  new 
era  by  providing  rest  days  for  wild-fowl,  an  ex- 
ample followed  by  New  Jersey  in  1879,  when  she 
also  prohibited  the  killing  of  water-fowl  from 


GAME-LAWS  267 

boats  propelled  by  sail  or  steam.  Market  hunting 
was  stopped  in  Arkansas  in  1875,  and  a  bag-limit 
law  passed  the  legislature  of  Iowa  in  1878.  Cali- 
fornia and  New  Hampshire  established  game  com- 
missions in  the  latter  year.  Non-resident  shoot- 
ing-licenses were  required  in  New  Jersey  by  1873 
— the  same  year  in  which  New  York  published  the 
first  game-laws  in  pamphlet  form — and  in  Dela- 
ware in  1879. 

The  reforms  of  the  next  decade  were  equally 
numerous.  The  model  law  for  the  protection  of 
non-game  birds  was  drawn  up  by  the  American 
Ornithologists^  Union  and  acted  upon  by  New 
York  in  1886  and  by  Pennsylvania  in  1889. 
Eighteen  eighty-seven  saw  in  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, and  Wisconsin  the  appointment  of  the  first 
salaried  game-wardens.  In  Wisconsin  birds  were 
no  longer  allowed  to  be  shot  for  millinery  pur- 
poses, and  in  Delaware  there  was  to  be  no  more 
hunting  in  the  snow. 

Michigan  in  1891  regulated  the  training  of  dogs 
on  game-birds  out  of  season.  Four  years  later 
the  resident  hunting-license  system  had  been  in- 
stalled in  several  States,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
decade  dove-baiting  was  prohibited  in  Georgia. 
The  famous  Lacey  Act,  regulating  interstate  com- 
merce in  game,  became  a  federal  law  in  1900. 
Pennsylvania  in  1907  placed  a  ban  on  the  auto- 
matic shot-gun,  being  the  first  State  to  do  so.  By 
the  end  of  the  following  year  a  number  of  States 


268    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

had  begun  to  pay  attention  to  the  propagation  of 
game. 

Then,  in  1913,  the  Migratory  Bird  Act  was 
passed  by  Congress,  and  in  1916  the  international 
treaty  between  Canada  and  the  United  States, 
concerning  the  protection  of  migratory  birds, 
was  ratified.  And  finally,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  twentieth  century  down  to  the  present  day, 
there  has  been  given  an  increased  amount  of  atten- 
tion to  the  setting  aside  of  federal  and  state  game 
preserves.  The  cry  for  conservation  now — 1922 
— is  making  itself  widely  heard. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  evolution  of  the  game-laws 
of  the  United  States.  As  soon  as  a  reform  was 
found  to  be  of  benefit  in  one  State,  it  was  taken  up 
by  others.  And  thus  there  has  gradually  arisen  a 
good  workable  code  applicable  to  all  States, 
which,  though  needing  in  the  future  the  addition 
of  a  few  minor  reforms, — such  as  the  shortening 
still  further  of  the  shooting  seasons  and  a  nar- 
rower limitation  of  game-bags, — now  proves  equi- 
table to  sportsmen  and  game  alike.  The  passage 
of  the  Lacey  Act  marked  the  beginning  of  federal 
control  of  game,  a  control  which  later  was  to 
prove  greatly  beneficial  to  migratory  birds.  It  is 
doubtful,  however,  if  the  Federal  Government 
can  ever  take  over  the  management  of  non-migra- 
tory birds  without  infringing  upon  the  so-<jalled 
^* rights'^  of  States.    But  there  is  now  little  need 


GAME-LAWS  269 

for  it  to  do  so ;  upland  game  is  at  last  getting  a 
**fair  show/' 

As  an  example  of  modern  methods  in  State  pro- 
tection of  upland  game-birds,  let  us  take  for  a 
model  the  State  of  New  York — exclusive  of  Long 
Island,  which  has  special  laws  of  its  own.  First, 
there  is  a  closed  season  of  indeiinite  duration  on 
the  mourning  dove  and  the  introduced  Hungarian 
partridge,  and  bob-white  quail  cannot  be  shot 
until  1925.  There  remain  only  the  ruffed  grouse 
and  introduced  pheasant  as  local  game-birds  with 
any  open  season  at  all.  In  the  case  of  the  former 
bird,  one  month  is  allowed  to  the  sportsman  to 
secure  his  season's  limit  of  ten,  with  the  proviso 
that  he  shall  take  no  more  than  two  in  any  one 
day.  The  open  season  of  the  ring-necked  pheasant 
runs  four  days  only,  and  the  sportsman  may  shoot 
three  cock  birds,  but  no  hens.  The  pheasant  is 
polygamous  and  therefore  the  cocks  can  be  spared 
in  considerable  numbers  without  impairing  the 
productive  potentiality  of  the  race.  Although 
approximately  a  hundred  thousand  men  hunt  these 
two  birds  each  autumn  throughout  the  State, 
under  the  present  system  of  narrow  bag-limits 
and  short  seasons  both  grouse  and  pheasants  are 
on  the  increase. 

Long  Island,  which  is  a  part  of  New  York,  has  a 
set  of  laws  applicable  only  to  itself,  and  they  are 
as  bad  and  out  of  date  as  the  laws  of  the  rest  of 


270    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

the  State  are  excellent  and  advanced.  Although 
the  bag-limit  is  the  same,  the  open  season  for 
rufFed  grouse  extends  for  two  months ;  there  are 
scarcely  any  grouse  left  on  Long  Island  and  there 
should  be  an  indefinite  closed  season.  Instead  of 
four  days,  the  shooting  season  for  ring-necked 
pheasants  lasts  for  two  months,  and  the  bag- 
limit  is  four  cock-pheasants  a  day,  or  thirty  for 
the  season.  Pheasants  are  nowhere  numerous 
except  in  the  immediate  environs  of  the  State 
game  farm  at  Middle  Island  and  on  a  few  private 
preserves.  They  never  will  be  unless  they  are 
given  a  chance  to  spread,  an  impossibility  under 
the  present  law. 

Unlike  the  rest  of  the  State,  Long  Island  still 
permits  her  quail  to  be  shot.  The  birds  are  still 
numerous  in  a  few  localities,  but  under  the  present 
two-month  open  season  they  will  not  be  for  long. 
A  five-year  closed  season  before  it  is  too  late 
would  bring  them  back  to  their  numbers  of  twenty 
years  ago;  but  a  certain  type  of  ^^ sportsman'' 
who  believes  in  shooting  now,  without  regard  to 
future  sport,  has  blocked  all  efforts  to  bring  such 
a  closed  season  about.  To  prove  his  point  he 
makes  such  absurd  statements  as  this,  that 
coveys  of  quail,  when  shot  into,  scatter,  and  there- 
fore populate  a  wider  stretch  of  territory  than 
before!  And,  because  he  is  a  ^* sportsman"  and 
is  supposed  to  know  something  of  the  habits  of 
bob-white,  he  is  believed  by  some  people.    Of 


GAME-LAWS  271 

course  the  birds  ^scatter  when  shot  into.  So  do 
troops  when  they  are  being  shelled ;  but  they  come 
together  again.  Except  at  breeding  time, — which 
is  not  the  shooting  season, — no  covey  of  quail  will 
remain  separated  for  more  than  twenty-four 
hours. 

But  this  type  of  gunner  is  not  relegated  only  to 
Long  Island.  He  is  still  to  be  found  in  every  State 
of  the  Union,  and  it  was  through  his  efforts  that 
effective  game  legislation  was  blocked  for  many 
years.  (Happily  he,  like  the  sport  he  destroyed, 
is  growing  scarce. 

But  to  return  to  New  York:  In  order  to  be 
able  to  shoot  on  land  other  than  his  own,  the 
sportsman  must  obtain  from  his  county  or  town 
clerk  a  hunting-license.  With  this  goes  a  celluloid 
button  with  the  license-number  inscribed  upon  it, 
which  must  be  worn  in  plain  sight  when  the  gunner 
is  in  the  field.  A  license  purchased  by  a  resident 
of  the  State  costs  $1J.0,  whereas  a  non-resident 
license  or  one  issued  to  an  alien  costs  $10.50. 
From  this  source  New  York  was,  in  1919,  in  receipt 
of  $247,847.  The  money  is  used  for  the  further 
protection  and  conservation  of  game. 

Under  the  Migratory  Bird  Law  the  United 
States  is  divided  into  two  geographical  zones, 
whose  seasons  for  shooting  water-fowl  and  shore- 
birds  differ.  Zone  No.  1,  termed  the  breeding 
zone,  comprises  all  the  territory  north  of  the 
fortieth  parallel  and  the  Ohio  River,  including 


272    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

twenty-five  States.  All  States  south  of  this  line 
make  what  is  known  as  the  wintering  zone.  New 
York  falls  ^^dthin  the  northerly  zone;  therefore 
its  open  seasons  on  migratory  game-birds  come 
within  the  earlier  months  prescribed  by  federal 
law,  a  law  which  also  governs  the  bag-limits. 

But,  instead  of  permitting  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  enforce  its  own  laws  by  itself.  New  York 
— as  do  all  other  States — cooperates  with  the 
Government.  She  has  incorporated  the  migra- 
tory law  as  her  owm,  and  her  own  officers  and 
wardens  enforce  the  law.  Thus  any  person  who 
violates  the  federal  law  is  also  guilty  of  an  of- 
fense against  the  State  of  New  York. 

For  the  enforcement  of  game-laws.  New  York 
maintains  a  body  of  nearly  a  hundred  game  pro- 
tectors whose  sole  duty  is  to  ferret  out  and  prose- 
cute all  violations  of  what  is  known  as  the  Conser- 
vation Law.  Working  in  conjunction  with  the 
game  protectors  are  the  state  constabulary,  who 
are  invested  with  full  power  to  act.  As  a  result, 
from  three  to  four  thousand  violations  are  prose- 
cuted every  year  with  a  return  in  fines  to  the 
State  of  approximately  twenty  dollars  for  every 
conviction.  In  1919  about  $65,000  was  thus 
brought  into  the  State  exchequer,  to  be  used  for 
the  further  protection  of  game. 


GAME-LAWS  273 


State  Game-Laws 

Virtually  all  the  state  codes  of  game-laws  are 
now  constructed  upon  the  same  plan,  that  of  New 
York  being  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  essen- 
tials of  these  codes  have  been  concisely  summed  up 
by  Mr.  Henry  Chase  in  the  following  list  of  reg- 
ulations :  ^ 

(1)  Providing  proper  open  and  closed  seasons.  (2) 
Prohibiting  all  unusually  destructive  means  and  methods 
of  hunting,  fishing,  or  exterminating  game.  (3)  Pro- 
viding a  bag-limit,  that  is,  limiting  the  amount  of  game 
allowed  to  each  sportsman  by  the  day  and  during  the 
season.  (4)  Forbidding  the  sale  of  or  traffic  in  game 
and  regulating  the  transportation  of  same.  (5)  An  Au- 
dubon Law,  so-called,  protecting  at  all  times  useful  in- 
sectivorous birds  not  fit  for  food.  (6)  A  Ucense  law 
compelling  all  those  who  hunt  or  fish  to  register  and  pay 
a  tax.  (7)  Providing  for  the  purchase  and  regulation 
of  propagation*  farms,  fish-cultural  stations,  and  game 
refuges.  (8)  Estabhshing  a  game  commission  to  en- 
force the  laws  and  carry  on  the  work  of  propagation. 

We  have  already  dealt  with  several  of  the  neces- 
sary regulations.  The  provision  for  short  open 
and  long  closed  seasons  has  been  admirably 
adopted  by  New  York  and  several  more  States 
with  excellent  results.  Under  the  federal  Migra- 
tory Bird  Law,  which  prohibits  the  killing  of 

1  Henry     Chase,     "Game     Protection     and     Propagation     in 
America." 


274    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIED  LIFE 

water-fowl  and  shorebirds  during  their  spring 
migration,  the  open  seasons  for  these  birds  have 
been  cut  virtually  in  half,  with  a  resulting  large  in- 
crease in  their  numbers  and  better  shooting  in  the 
autumn. 

But  many  States  still  have  a  long  way  to  go  in 
shortening  seasons  for  their  game-birds,  if  their 
sportsmen  are  to  have  any  shooting  twenty  years 
hence.  For  instance,  while  most  Southern  States 
permit  the  shooting  of  wild  turkey-gobblers  only, 
the  period  allowed  for  killing  them  extends  on  an 
average  over  four  months.  The  same  applies  to 
quail  and  doves.  This  prolongation  of  slaughter 
can  only  result  in  one  end,  extermination.  On 
the  other  hand,  such  States  as  Tennessee,  Texas, 
and  one  or  two  others,  all  well-stocked  with  native 
game-birds,  have  so  shortened  their  open  seasons 
that  the  presence  of  game  is  assured  for  all  time. 

The  second  provision  of  the  common  code  is  in 
one  respect  universally  adhered  to  by  all  States. 
Game-birds  can  nowhere  be  taken  in  any  other 
manner  than  by  the  use  of  a  shot-gun  or  rifle  held 
at  arm's-length.  The  birds  are  thus  assured  a 
chance  of  escape  which  was  wholly  lacking  in  the 
days  of  great  punt-guns  and  many-barreled  float- 
ing batteries.  The  use  of  nets,  traps,  and  power- 
boats is  also  universally  discountenanced.  It  is 
unlawful  in  some  States  to  carry  a  loaded  gun  in 
an  automobile,  in  others  it  is  forbidden  to  shoot 
from  the  highway  or  to  employ  a  search-light  for 


GAME-LAWS  275 

shooting.  The  automatic  shot-gun  is  banned  both 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  a  gun  holding 
more  than  two  cartridges  being  prohibited  in  the 
latter  State.  The  automatic,  the  pump-gun,  the 
automobile,  the  search-light,  and  other  unfair 
means  of  taking  game-birds  will  doubtless  be 
legislated  against  throughout  the  entire  Union 
within  a  few  years.  The  fact  that  they  have  not 
already  universally  been  done  away  with  affords 
an  argument  for  those  in  favor  of  exclusive 
federal  control  of  game. 

The  need  of  narrow  bag-limits  is  so  obvious  that 
it  calls  for  no  further  discussion.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  regulation  forbidding  the  sale  of 
game.  And  yet  there  are  four  States  which  still 
allow  the  sale  of  upland  game-birds,  and  in  one, 
Wyoming,  native  birds  taken  within  the  State  may 
be  placed  on  the  market.  The  sale  of  migratory 
birds,  however,  is  everywhere  prohibited  by 
federal  law. 

The  Audubon  Law,  as  drawn  up  by  the  American 
Ornithologists'  Union  in  1886,  has  been  incorpor- 
ated into  the  federal  Migratory  Bird  Law,  thus 
protecting  all  insectivorous  birds  not  fit  for  game 
throughout  the  United  States.  This  in  a  measure 
does  away  with  the  need  for  each  separate  State 
to  have  a  similar  law  of  its  own. 

Some  kind  of  license  law  has  been  adopted  by 
all  States,  but  not  all  of  them  require  their  own 
citizens  to  have  hunting-licenses.     Non-resident 


276    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

sportsmen,  however,  are  ■aniversally  required  to 
have  them.  In  the  States  whose  residents  are  per- 
mitted to  shoot  without  taxation,  a  person  is  gen- 
erally allowed  to  do  so  only  in  his  own  county. 
If  he  desires  to  hunt  in  a  distant  portion  of  his 
State,  it  then  is  necessary  to  obtain  a  license. 
And  some  States  demand  a  county  license  as 
well  as  a  State  license.  Thus,  for  instance,  in 
Maryland,  if  a  man  shoots  only  in  his  own 
county  he  is  taxed  $1.50 ;  but  if  he  desires  to  hunt 
in  other  portions  of  the  State  he  is  compelled  to 
pay  $5.10. 

As  in  New  York,  the  funds  obtained  from  these 
taxes  go  toward  state  maintenance  of  game  and 
fish.  In  other  words,  they  go  to  further  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  last  two  provisions  of  the  game- 
law  code.  Virtually  all  the  States  now  have  a 
special  department  to  handle  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  fish  and  game  which  happen  to  come  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  local  government.  This 
department  generally  consists  of  a  commission 
appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State,  although 
it  may  be  a  division  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
or  a  division  of  a  conservation  commission,  or, 
as  in  North  Carolina,  it  may  operate  under  the 
name  of  the  Audubon  Society. 

The  work  of  the  fish  and  game  department  is 
everywhere  the  same.  It  appoints  game-wardens 
and  prosecutes  violations  of  the  law.  It  estab- 
lishes fish-cultural  stations,  develops  game-breed- 


GAME-LAWS  277 

ing  farms,  and  selects  localities  to  act  as  refuges 
for  game,  which,  however,  can  only  be  taken  over 
as  such  by  state  legislation. 


Federal  Laws 

The  Lacey  Act,  the  federal  Migratory  Bird  Law, 
and  the  Migratory  Bird  Treaty  have  been  men- 
tioned several  times  in  these  pages  without  any 
specific  record  of  their  making.  The  first  was 
introduced  into  Congress  by  John  F.  Lacey  in 
1900  as  an  attempt  to  stop  the  slaughter  of  game- 
birds  which  was  then  going  on  at  a  great  rate 
throughout  the  United  States.  The  States  had 
claimed  all  the  birds  that  lived  in  or  passed 
through  their  territories,  and  were  doing  little 
or  nothing  to  prevent  their  extermination.  Pas- 
senger pigeons  were  gone,  the  heath  hen  was  gone, 
prairie  chickens  were  going,  turkeys  were  disap- 
pearing, and  quail  had  been  entirely  eliminated 
from  some  States.  Soon  all  game-birds  would 
be  memories  of  the  past.  Non-game  birds  also 
were  suffering  from  the  depredations  of  plum- 
age hunters,  and  they  too  would  soon  be  effaced. 

The  Lacey  Act,  working  through  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  merely  prohibited  the 
transportation  by  any  common  carrier  of  any  bird 
or  part  thereof  not  specially  listed  in  the  act. 
Henceforth  no  plumage  of  wild  birds  could  be 


278    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

transported  from  State  to  State ;  the  heron  rook- 
eries of  the  Carolinas  could  not  be  devastated  to 
supply  the  New  York  millinery  trade ;  and  game- 
birds  could  not  be  killed  to  fill  markets  outside 
of  the  State.  This  was  the  first  step  of  the 
Government  toward  central  control  of  birds. 

As  far  back  as  1904,  bills  were  presented  to  Con- 
gress proposing  federal  control  of  migratory 
game-birds.  Their  initial  failure  was  due  to  the 
inclusion  of  game-birds  in  the  list  without  mention 
of  crop-protecting  birds.  Congress  rightly 
claimed  that  the  passage  of  such  bills  would  prove 
of  benefit  to  sportsmen  only,  and  they  were  shelved 
for  several  years.  The  people  to  whom  the  pro- 
tection of  the  insectivorous  birds  would  be  of  in- 
estimable value  failed  to  become  interested  in  the 
project,  and  therefore  the  game-bird  bills  were 
doomed  before  their  inception. 

Recognizing  that  this  was  so  and  being  himself 
wholly  in  favor  of  protection  in  one  form  or  an- 
other for  all  birds,  Mr.  T.  Gilbert  Pearson,  head 
of  the  National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies, 
in  the  spring  of  1912  addressed  a  congressional 
committee  at  a  public  hearing  on  three  migratory 
game-bird  bills.  His  speech  brought  out  the  fact 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  include  insec- 
tivorous birds  in  such  bills  before  they  could  be- 
come effective.  Armed  with  voluminous  statis- 
tics, he  was  able  to  drive  this  home  to  the  members 
of  the  committee.    Within  a  month,  a  new  bill, 


Courtesy  of  Dr.  W.  T.  Hornaday 

WILD   DUCKS    KILLED    UNDER    THE   LAW 


Courtesy  of  the 

N.  Y.  Zoological  Society 


Photograph  by 
Ehvin  R.  Sanborn 


CANADA    GOOSE    AND    HER    BROOD    OF    GOSLINGS 


GAME-LAWS  279 

known  as  the  McLean  Bill,  including  all  migratory 
birds,  had  been  introduced  by  the  senator  of  that 
name. 

The  New  York  Zoological  Society,  in  the  autumn 
of  1912,  opened  an  educational  campaign  for  teach- 
ing the  public  the  economic  value  of  birds.  Work- 
ing with  the  Audubon  Societies,  together  with  a 
number  of  game  protective  associations,  state 
game  commissions,  and  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines, an  appeal  was  made  to  the  people  for  the 
passage  of  the  McLean  Bill.  Articles  and  pamph- 
lets by  the  score  were  published;  the  newspapers 
threw  themselves  heart  and  soul  into  the  cause; 
and  agricultural  colleges  took  up  the  question. 
By  the  spring  of  1913  the  McLean  Bill  had  become 
a  law. 

The  McLean- Weeks  Bill  declared  that  all  mi- 
gratory birds  belonged  to  the  Federal  Government 
and  that  individual  States  no  longer  held  direct 
jurisdiction  over  them.  The  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture was  authorized  to  fix  closed  seasons, 
having  **due  regard  to  the  zones  of  temperature, 
breeding  habits,  and  time  and  line  of  migratory 
flight  ...,'*  and  was  required  to  enforce  the 
new  provisions  concerning  the  killing  and  cap- 
ture of  the  birds.  The  inadequate  sum  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  was  set  aside  for  this  purpose. 

While  the  new  law  was  a  great  stride  in  the 
advancement  of  protection,  it  could  never  prove 
efficient  until  the  breeding-grounds  of  the  birds 


280    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

came  under  its  control.  This,  however,  seemed 
an  almost  insurmountable  difficulty.  Virtually  all 
the  migratory  game-birds  reared  their  broods  in 
Canada,  and  that  country  was  also  the  home  of 
many  insectivorous  birds.  Unless  these  birds 
could  receive  protection  in  those  northerly  re- 
gions, the  United  States  migratory  law  would  be 
only  partly  effective ;  the  United  States  would  be 
conserving  its  bird  life  for  the  benefit  of  Cana- 
dian guns,  just  as  France,  Switzerland,  and  Eng- 
land conserve  their  stock  for  the  Italian  trappers. 

With  this  knowledge  fully  in  mind,  Senator  Mc- 
Lean introduced  a  second  resolution  into  the  Sen- 
ate requesting  the  President  to  propose  to  the 
Governments  of  other  countries  a  convention  for 
the  preservation  and  protection  of  migratory 
birds.  Negotiations  were  immediately  opened 
with  Canada  for  the  consideration  of  a  treaty  to 
that  effect,  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in 
1914  delayed  its  consummation  until  1916.  Fi- 
nally, in  August  of  that  year,  it  was  ratified  by 
the  United  States,  and  a  few  months  later  received 
the  signature  of  King  George  of  England.  The 
treaty  is  now  in  force  and  is  to  continue  fully 
operative  for  fifteen  years  from  the  date  of  ratifi- 
cation, with  the  possibility  of  further  extension. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  the  contracting 
powers  agree  that  there  shall  be  a  continuous 
closed  season  until  1927  on  band-tailed  pigeons, 
little    brown,    sand-hill,    and    whooping    cranes, 


GAME-LAWS  281 

swans,  curlew,  and  all  shore-birds  with  the  excep- 
tion of  six  species.  The  closed  season  of  migra- 
tory insectivorous  birds  is  made  continuous 
throughout  the  duration  of  the  treaty,  and  open 
seasons  of  prescribed  length  are  laid  down  for 
game-birds.  The  United  States,  however,  has 
failed  to  pass  legislation  to  enforce  the  treaty, 
and  there  remains  only  the  fifty  thousand  dollars 
a  year  under  the  old  Federal  Migratory  Law  to 
carry  out  its  provisions. 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  this  wholly  absurd 
amount  would  go  far  toward  maintaining  the 
national  law,  let  alone  the  international  treaty. 
But  fortunately  the  majority  of  States  accepted 
both  law  and  treaty  at  their  face  value,  and,  far 
from  fighting  them,  did  everything  in  their  power 
to  further  their  enforcement.  One  State  after 
another  incorporated  the  provisions  of  the  law 
into  its  own  code  and  thus  relieved  the  central 
government  of  much  responsibility.  In  1916  only 
five  States  out  of  the  entire  Union  held  that  the 
law  was  unconstitutional  in  that  it  infringed  upon 
state  rights.  Its  constitutionality,  however,  was 
upheld  in  the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  and  these 
States  immediately  afterward  followed  the  exam- 
ple of  the  others. 


Effect  of  Game-Laws  upon  Birds 
Men  who  ought  to  know  declare  that  the  fewer 


282    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

the  game-laws,  the  more  game-birds  are  produced. 
Never  were  truer  words  spoken.  By  one  simple 
and  brief  code  the  Federal  Government  has  not 
only  succeeded  in  protecting  nine  tenths  of  the 
birds  in  the  United  States,  but  has  done  so  in  such 
a  manner  that  those  birds  are  actually  increasing 
in  numbers.  Ten  years  ago  it  was  virtually  an 
unknown  event  for  black  ducks  to  breed  on  the 
marshes  and  pond-banks  of  Long  Island,  New 
Jersey,  or  Massachusetts.  Now  they  may  be  seen 
there  every  spring  and  summer  in  scores.  Wood- 
ducks,  once  nearly  exterminated,  are  returning  to 
their  old  haunts ;  gulls  and  terns  crowd  our  coastal 
shore-line;  and  curlews  are  no  longer  an  uncom- 
mon sight  in  the  early  autumn.  For  these  birds 
the  simplest  law  has  indeed  proved  a  boon. 

Very  different,  on  the  other  hand,  has  been  the 
influence  of  a  heterogeneous  complication  of  state 
laws  upon  non-migratory  upland  game-birds. 
Until  recent  years  each  State  formulated  a  code 
to  fit  its  own  needs,  which  in  reality  merely  fitted 
the  needs  of  a  few  sportsmen.  The  making  of 
game-laws  became  a  pastime,  a  mania,  with  state 
legislatures.  So  complicated  did  the  laws  grow 
that  the  citizens  of  a  State  could  gather  no  more 
than  an  inkling  of  what  they  meant. 

It  might  be  unlawful,  for  instance,  to  kill  quail 
in  the  northern  part  of  one  county  whereas  any 
number  could  be  shot  in  the  southern  part.  A 
similar  law  might  pertain  to  all  of  a  dozen  coun- 


GAME-LAWS  283 

ties  scattered  throughout  the  State.  Citizens, 
once  outside  of  their  o^vn  county,  could  not  tell 
where  or  when  they  could  shoot.  Hundreds  of 
such  confusing  laws  were  passed  in  the  ten  years 
following  the  enactment  of  the  Lacey  Bill.  Be- 
tween 1901  and  1910,  1324  new  state  game-laws 
were  promulgated ;  316  of  them  in  North  Carolina 
alone. 

There  could  be  only  one  result  arising  from  this 
over-discriminate  legislation.  Game-birds  were 
destroyed.  The  legislative  miscellany,  though 
designed  to  protect,  reacted  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. Quail  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county 
were  killed  off  while  there  were  none  left  to  breed 
in  the  northern  part. 

Even  under  the  more  modern  code,  commonly 
adopted  and  simplified  as  it  is,  many  States  con- 
tinue to  enact  numerous  confusing  local  laws. 
Some  of  these  perhaps  are  necessary;  others  are 
highly  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
game.  Those  which  have  to  do  with  the  establish- 
ment of  refuges,  sanctuaries,  and  breeding-farms 
are  excellent,  but  those  which  leave  a  bird  pro- 
tected in  half  the  State  and  unprotected  in  the 
other  merely  serve  to  lower  the  vital  statistics  of 
the  species  in  question. 

New  York  makes  an  excellent  example  of  this 
short-sightedness.  Quail  were  virtually  exter- 
minated throughout  the  main  part  of  the  State 
before  a  long  closed  season  was  put  in  force. 


284    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

There  are  still  a  few  on  Long  Island,  and  these 
are  permitted  to  be  shot.  By  the  time  the  Long 
Island  birds  are  extirpated,  the  closed  season  in 
the  rest  of  the  State  will  be  off.  Now  the  question 
arises :  Will  there  be  enough  quail  in  upper  New 
York  in  1925  to  take  the  place  of  the  exterminated 
Long  Island  birds!  The  answer  is  emphatically 
no.  Without  extensive  restocking,  there  will  be 
but  a  mere  handful  in  the  upper  State.  Thus, 
under  the  present  system,  the  quail  will  soon  be 
entirely  eradicated  from  the  State  calendar  of 
game-laws. 

Although  the  different  species  of  game  scat- 
tered over  the  United  States  call  for  a  wide  vari- 
ety of  open  and  closed  seasons,  legislation  con- 
cerning them  need  not  differ  in  principle.  As 
each  year  passes.  States  are  coming  to  realize 
this  more  and  more,  and  the  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  all  game-laws  will  be  in  entire  concomi- 
tance with  one  another  throughout  the  Union. 
No  thinking  citizen  or  sportsman  would  desire  to 
have  an  open  season  on  his  prairie  chickens  when 
those  birds  are  protected  by  closed  seasons  in  the 
surrounding  States.  The  influx  of  eager  gunners 
from  those  States  would  soon  leave  him  with  no 
game  at  all. 

It  is  doubtful  if,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  Federal  Government  can  ever 
assume  control  of  native  upland  game-birds.    And 


GAME-LAWS  285 

there  will  never  be  any  need  for  it  to  do  so,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  game-bird,  if  the  States 
synchronize  their  laws. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


A  COISrSERVATION   SKETCH 


In  several  of  the  previous  chapters  we  have  en- 
deavored to  make  plain  the  enormous  economic 
value  of  wild  birds  to  mankind :  their  bearing  upon 
agriculture,  their  production  of  vast  quantities  of 
fertilizer,  the  commercial  status  of  their  feathers, 
and  the  value  of  their  flesh  as  food. 

The  sum  total  of  the  actual  cash  value  of  bird 
life  to  humanity  is  staggering  in  its  magnitude. 
Each  land  bird  in  the  United  States,  if  it  has  a 
life  span  of  five  years,  has  an  estimated  potential 
worth  of  seventy-five  cents  to  the  farmer;  and 
there  are,  at  a  low  figure,  four  billion  such  birds 
native  to  the  United  States.  Some  hawks  and 
owls  alone  may  be  valued  at  seventy-five  dollars 
apiece.  In  Peru  the  Government  considers  its 
guano  birds  as  worth  fifteen  dollars  each.  The 
annual  income  of  thousands  of  people  in  Iceland 
depends  almost  entirely  upon  the  products  of  the 
eider-duck.  Ostriches  yearly  bring  about  ten 
million  dollars  to  the  Boer  farmers  of  South 
Africa.  Thousands  of  game-birds  are  placed  on 
the  market  in  Europe  during  the  proper  season; 

286 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH        287 

and  in  America,  until  a  stop  was  put  to  it  about 
ten  years  ago,  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  water- 
fowl and  upland  birds  were  sold  every  autumn 
and  winter.  For  instance,  less  than  fifty  years 
ago,  before  the  passenger  pigeons  became  extinct, 
a  single  town  in  Michigan  in  two  years-  shipped 
birds  to  the  value  of  $4,000,000. 

We  have  also  attempted  to  outline  the  history 
of  the  destruction  that  followed  in  the  wake  of 
** civilization'':  how,  through  lack  of  knowledge 
and  foresight,  man  depleted  the  ranks  of  the  hawk 
and  owl  families;  how  his  ^^feather"  voyages 
created  havoc  among  the  down-bearing  ducks  of 
Labrador;  how  he  carelessly  wrecked  the  guano 
rookeries  of  Peru ;  how  he  exterminated  birds*  for 
their  plumes,  only  learning,  when  the  ostrich  was 
on  the  very  verge  of  extinction,  how  to  domesticate 
it ;  and,  finally,  how  great  avian  populations  have 
been  wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth  because 
their  flesh  was  tender  and  palatable,  and  easy  to 
obtain.  It  has  been  a  sad  story  indeed — one  of 
which  we  have  no  right  to  feel  proud. 

Nothing  could  be  sorrier  than  the  picture  of 
Italy  stripped  of  its  birds,  unless  it  be  America, 
the  greatest  natural  bird  paradise  in  the  world,  as 
it  once  approached  that  deserted  state.  Since  the 
inception  of  Ealeigh's  colony  in  Virginia  and  the 
arrival  of  the  Mayflower  at  Plymouth,  there  has 
followed  the  total  extinction  of  no  less  than  six  of 
our  native  species :  the  great  auk,  Eskimo  curlew, 


288    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

passenger  pigeon,  Labrador  duck,  Pallas  cormo- 
rant, and  Carolina  parrakeet,  all,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  cormorant,  exterminated  by  the 
hand  of  man.  Four  of  these  died  because  they 
made  excellent  eating  or  because  their  feathers 
made  excellent  beds.  The  native  parrakeet  was 
slaughtered  for  its  bright-colored  plumage.  And, 
aside  from  the  cormorant,  they  were  all  so  nu- 
merous that  no  one  dreamed  that  they  could  be 
exterminated. 

To  this  casualty  list  may  be  added  the  names  of 
the  whooping-crane,  sandhill  crane,  trumpeter- 
swan,  American  flamingo,  scarlet  ibis,  Hudsonian 
godwit,  upland  plover,  willet,  black-capped  petrel, 
red  egret,  heath  hen,  white-tailed  kite,  and  ivory- 
billed  woodpecker;  thirteen  birds  so  nearly  ex- 
tinct that  some  have  not  been  recorded  for  several 
years.  And  there  are  also  the  roseate  spoonbill, 
long-billed  curlew,  dowitcher,  knot,  snowy  egret, 
great  white  heron,  wood-duck,  several  species  of 
hawk,  an  owl  or  two,  and  a  score  of  other  birds, 
the  sight  of  any  one  of  wliich  in  its  native  haunts, 
from  its  very  rarity,  now  gives  an  ornithologist 
heart  palpitations  and  thrills  sufficient  to  last  him 
a  whole  season.  It  is  not  overstepping  the  bor- 
ders of  conservation  to  say  that  10  per  cent,  of 
the  original  species  in  the  United  States  are  now 
in  a  condition  of  virtual  extinction,  and  fully  25 
per  cent,  of  once-common  birds  may  be  relegated 
to  the  * '  rare '  *  list.     Of  the  remainder,  some  have 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH         289 

always  been  rare;  the  majority  have  suffered 
woeful  losses.  ^ 

Such,  then,  is  the  status*  of  birds  in  the  United 
States  to-day ;  but  even  at  that  they  are  better  off 
a  hundred  times  than  only  twenty  years  ago,  be- 
fo-re  avian  protection  and  conservation  as  an  ac- 
tual practice  gained  a  foothold  in  America. 

Conservation  of  its  wild-life  resources  is  now  a 
policy  of  the  United  States  Grovernment,  and  for 
it  as  a  national  policy  we  have  to  give  thanks 
mainly  to  two  men,  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Dr. 
T.  S.  Palmer.  During  the  Presidential  adminis- 
trations of  the  former,  no  less  than  fifty-three 
federal  bird  refuges  were  established,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  several  national  bison-ranges  and  at  least 
four  national  game-preserves.  And  it  was  the 
Biological  Survey  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Palmer,  that 
carried  out  the  work  laid  down  by  the  President. 

The  conser\^ation  of  bird  life  in  the  United 
States,  although  still  only  in  the  stage  of  infancy, 
is  now  fostered  in  the  following  ways:  (1) 
Through  the  enactment  of  sane  game-laws.  (2) 
Through  the  education  of  the  public  to  encourage 
the  presence  of  birds  around  their  homes  and 
farms.  (3)  Through  government  or  state  wild- 
life refuges  and  sanctuaries.  (4)  Through  pri- 
vately owned  preserves,  refuges,  and  sanctuaries. 
(5)     Through  state  game-farms  for  propagating 

1  For  more  detailed  information,  see  Appendix. 


290    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

birds.  (6)  Through  ganie  protective  and  breed- 
ing associations.  (7)  Through  Audubon  societies. 
(8)  Through  wild-life  protection  societies. 

The  value  of  game-laws  has  been  discussed  and 
requires  no  further  mention  here.  A  word,  how- 
ever, needs  to  be  said  about  education.  Wild- 
life study  is  now  being  taught  in  most  of  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  United  States.  Children  are 
familiarized  with  the  common  plants,  trees,  in- 
sects, animals,  and  birds.  They  are  taught  to 
recognize  the  commoner  species  and  learn  some- 
thing of  their  habits.  To  further  this  work  many 
States  have  set  aside  a  *  ^  bird-day,  ^ '  similar  to  and 
often  in  conjunction  with  an  ^  *  arbor-day, ' '  on 
which  the  public  school  children  plant  berry-trees 
or  shrubs,  build  bird-houses,  and  make  excur- 
sions into  the  woods  and  fields  under  the  guidance 
of  teachers  to  study  close  at  hand  what  they  have 
been  taught  indoors.  In  other  words,  there  is  a 
general  trend  of  popular  sentiment  toward  teach- 
ing the  younger  generations  to  take  an  interest 
in  birds  and  other  forms  of  wild  life. 

A  number  of  agricultural  colleges  have  also 
taken  up  the  study  of  economic  ornithology  as  a 
prescribed  course  in  their  curriculum;  and  the 
newer  generations  of  scientific  farmers  are  being 
educated  in  regard  to  the  cash  value  of  birds  on 
the  farm. 

Lecturing  staffs  are  maintained  by  the  game 
commissions   of  various   States.    The  lecturers 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH        291 

travel  about  the  State  equipped  with  interesting 
films  and  slides  which  explain  better  than  words 
what  is  being  done.  Their  views  on  conservation 
are  also  got  to  the  public  through  articles  printed 
in  local  new^spapers  or  in  pamphlet  form ;  and  some 
States  issue  regular  monthly  magazines  setting 
forth  the  doctrines  of  conservation.  The  educa- 
tional results  of  this  work  have  proved  far  be- 
yond what  was  hoped  or  expected. 

Again,  much  of  the  teaching  has  been  under- 
taken by  the  National  Association  of  Audubon 
Societies  and  similar  organizations.  Small  Audu- 
bon societies  are  scattered  thickly  all  over  the 
country  wherever  there  happen  to  be  a  number  of 
bird  lovers  living  in  one  community.  The  ob- 
ject of  these  societies  is  not  only  to  study  birds, 
but  locally  and  nationally  to  arouse  public  inter- 
est in  them,  to  wage  war  against  the  human  ene- 
mies of  birds,  and  to  seek  legislation  for  their 
benefit.  The  national  association  maintains  a 
staff  of  lecturers,  as  well  as  a  large  number  of 
special  game-wardens  for  bird  refuges. 

National  bird  refuges  thus  far  established  have 
been  mainly  for  water-birds  or  as  resting-places 
for  migratory  species  on  their  way  north  and 
south.  The  land  set  apart  has  with  few  excep- 
tions consisted  of  rocky  islands  or  ledges,  or  tracts 
of  marsh  of  no  agricultural  value,  which  would 
always  have  been  waste  land.  These  reservations 
have  proved  of  immense  value  to  bird  life,  pro- 


292    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

viding  homes  free  from  molestation  for  millions 
of  water-fowl  and  herons,  which  otherwise  would 
now  be  extinct. 

And,  following  the  example  set  by  the  Federal 
Government,  many  States  have  purchased  or 
otherwise  acquired  waste  lands  which  they  term 
game  preserves,  refuges,  sanctuaries,  or  state 
parks,  on  which  no  further  shooting  is  permitted. 
These  lands,  however,  must  not  be  confused  with 
the  sometimes  gigantic  state  forest  preserves 
where  shooting,  under  certain  conditions,  is  gen- 
erally allowed. 

Game  refuges  or  sanctuaries  are  tracts  rang- 
ing from  a  few  acres  up  to  several  thousand. 
They  are  carefully  guarded  by  wardens,  some- 
times heavily  stocked  from  state  game-farms, 
and  serve  as  oases  for  game  which  gradually  fil- 
ters out  beyond  their  boundaries  to  replenish  the 
dwindling  stock  of  the  surrounding  territories. 
Some  refuges  are  actually  owned  by  the  State; 
others  are  merely  held  for  a  term  of  years  under 
a  lease;  and  still  others  may  be  protected  for 
specific  periods  of  time  upon  request  of  the 
owners. 

Let  us  cite  briefly  what  has  been  accomplished 
on  the  dozen  or  so  reservations  in  the  small  State 
of  Massachusetts.  As  soon  as  the  land  is  taken 
over  by  the  State,  every  effort  is  made  to  exter- 
minate its  varied  population  of  vermin  and  to 
make  it  habitable  for  game.    It  is  then  restocked, 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH         293 

if  necessary,  with  game-birds,  and  placed,  if  the 
size  of  the  territory  warrants  it,  under  the  control 
of  a  caretaker. 

Perhaps  the  most  famous  refuge  in  Massa- 
chusetts is  the  Martha's  Vineyard  Reservation, 
on  which  live  the  sole  existing  heath  hens.  A 
few  years  ago  a  great  fire  destroyed  something 
like  two  thousand  of  these  birds,  and  for  a  time 
it  was  thought  that  the  species  would  become  ex- 
tinct. Under  careful  management,  however,  the 
remnant  saved  from  the  fire  had  increased  by 
the  spring  of  1920  to  600  birds,  and  now  there 
seems   to   be   little   danger  of  their  dying   out. 

In  the  Myles  Standish  Forest  ^^wild  life  condi- 
tions .  .  .  have  improved  each  year  since  the  in- 
stallation of  a  permanent  caretaker.  Pheasants, 
ruffed  grouse  and  quail  have  made  a  marked  in- 
crease, though  there  were  less  than  a  dozen  of 
either  grouse  or  quail  when  the  reservation  was 
taken  up.  Pheasants  have  spread  into  all  suit- 
able covers,  and  two  bevies  of  quail,  fed  through 
the  winter,  have  bred  well.  Black  ducks  are  quite 
numerous,  and  wood  ducks  are  increasing,  25  be- 
ing counted  in  one  locality. ' '  ^  During  the  year 
166  predatory  vermin  were  taken  on  this  reser- 
vation. 

At  the  Moose  Hill  Bird  Sanctuary,  operated  in 
conjunction  with  the  Massachusetts  Audubon  So- 

1  "Annual  Report  of  the  Division  of  Fisheries  and  Game  for 
the  Year  Ending  November  30,  192(y':  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Public  Document  No.   25. 


294    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

ciety,  **  experiments  in  feeding  and  nesting  de- 
vices and  methods  of  attracting  birds  about  the 
home  have  been  continued,  also  the  identification 
and  card-cataloguing  of  wild-life, — now  covering 
700  species, — records  of  nesting  birds,  and  daily 
ornithological  notes.  There  have  been  127  spe- 
cies of  birds  recorded,  71  of  which  have  been  found 
during  the  nesting  season/'  Among  those  listed 
as  nesting  there  were  numerous  black-duck,  wood- 
cock, and  quail. 

The  story  of  the  other  reservations  is  much  the 
same.  All  have  been  stocked  from  the  state 
game-farms.  Without  exception  they  show  a 
definite  increase  in  the  ratio  of  wild  life  and, 
where  it  is  permitted,  better  shooting  for  the 
sportsmen  near  their  outskirts. 

From  Pennsylvania  comes  the  report  that  de- 
spite the  constantly  increasing  number  of  hunters 
a  number  of  species  of  game  show  a  steady  in- 
crease throughout  the  State.  And  there  are 
nearly  500,000  licensed  hunters  in  Pennsylvania! 

Under  the  Pennsylvania  conservation  system 
there  are  more  than  thirty  game  sanctuaries  now 
in  operation.  The  State  has  acquired  consider- 
ably more  than  a  million  acres  of  wild  land  for  the 
conservation  of  its  water-supply,  which  it  terms 
the  state  forest  reserves.  This  land  is  a  public 
shooting-ground,  but  within  it  are  situated  a  num- 
ber of  sanctuaries,  heavily  stocked  with  game,  on 
which  shooting  is  absolutely  forbidden.     These 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH        295 

act  as  reservoirs  to  supply  the  forest  reserves. 

There  are  numerous  sanctuaries  situated  in 
other  parts  of  the  State,  not  a  part  of  the  state 
forest  lands,  which  are  doing  full  duty ;  and  apart 
from  these  are  seven  or  eight  auxiliary  sanctuaries 
maintained  by  the  State  in  conjunction  with 
sportsmen.  In  1920  more  than  $56,000  was  spent 
in  stocking  these  refuges. 

In  encouraging  their  citizens  to  post  their  land 
against  shooting,  many  States  are  helping  effi- 
ciently to  protect  their  game.  Posting  tends  to 
lessen  the  number  of  guns  in  pursuit  of  game-birds 
and  allows  them  a  better  chance  to  increase.  It 
also  is  the  beginning  of  many  private  preserves 
and  sanctuaries. 

Private  game  preserves,  however,  have  never 
had  the  popularity  in  America  that  they  have  in 
Great  Britain  or  Continental  Europe.  Until 
thirty  years  ago  any  man  who  sequestered  his 
land  from  public  shooting,  reserving  that  privi- 
lege for  himself,  was  considered  almost  a  moral 
leper  by  the  general  run  of  American  sportsmen. 
People  believed  that  private  land  maintained 
solely  for  protection  of  game  was  un-American,  a 
sort  of  throw-back  to  the  conditions  of  feudal 
Europe.  Some  still  consider  that  it  tends  toward 
class  distinction,  opposes  development,  deprives 
citizens  of  their  rights,  and  creates  a  monopoly  of 
hunting  privileges. 

But,  with  the  passing  of  the  game,  those  days 


296    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

of  suspicion  are  also  passing.  It  is  now  almost 
universally  recognized  that  without  human  aid 
our  game-birds  will  soon  no  longer  exist.  The 
private  game  preserve  must  henceforth  be  thought 
of  as  a  means  of  increasing  our  wild  life,  of  sup- 
porting, in  some  degree,  our  food  supply,  and  of 
utilizing,  to  a  much  greater  extent,  waste  places 
which  are  now  of  little  value  to  ajiy  one.  There 
are,  for  example,  at  least  eighteen  million  acres 
suitable  for  this  purpose  in  Connecticut,  New  Jer- 
sey, West  Virginia,  and  Maine  alone,  a  small  frac- 
tion of  which  has  already  been  taken  over  by  the 
various  "States  or  by  private  owners  as  preserves. 
In  New  York  more  than  a  million  acres  have  been 
dedicated  as  preserves^  and  the  total  in  one  or  two 
other  States  reaches  twice  that  area. 

Private  game  sanctuaries  run  a  parallel  course 
with  the  shooting-preserves  and  really  are  of 
more  importance  to  the  longevity  of  the  birds. 
Their  popularity  in  America  has  arisen  in  the  com- 
paratively short  space  of  ten  years  and  doubtless 
will  continue  to  increase  as  the  public  learns  more 
and  more  how  to  care  for  its  valuable  bird  life. 
In  1918  and  1919  ^'The  People's  Home  Journal, '^ 
a  magazine  deeply  interested  in  the  conservation 
of  wild  life,  instituted  campaigns  among  its  sub- 
scribers for  sanctuaries.  The  results  were  sur- 
prising and  showed  what  a  firm  hold  the  idea  of 
conservation  already  had  on  the  minds  of  the 
American  people.    By  1920,  merely  through  the 


V 


Courtesy  of  the  American  Game  Protective  and  Propagation  Association 

THE  RESULT  OF  CONSERVATION — DUCKS  ON  A  KANSAS  STATE  FISH  HATCHERY  POND 


PHiiiHHHHHH 

iHRI^BII 

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Pig^it^,^ 

Courtesy  of  the  American  Game  Protective  and  Propagation  Association 

A    VIEW   OF    THE    REARING   FIELD    ON   THE    VIRGINIA    STATE   QUAIL   FARM 


Courtesy  of  the  American  Game  Protective  and  Propagation  Association 

A    FLOCK    OF    BOB-WHITES    AND    THEIR    BANTAM   MOTHER 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH         297 

efforts  of  this  magazine,  6468  wild-life  sanc- 
tuaries had  been  established!  Inhabitants  of 
forty-two  States  had  responded,  and,  in  all,  2,290,- 
997  acres  had  been  -set  aside  for  this  purpose! 

While  state  and  private  refuges  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  protecting  game-birds  and  others,  and  en- 
able them  to  breed  in  comparative  safety,  they 
can  be  of  little  value  if  there  are  no  birds  there 
to  breed.  This  too  often  is  the  case.  The  game 
has  been  extirpated  from  that  locality  in  years 
past  by  over-eager  gunners.  Therefore  a  number 
of  States  have  established  game-farms  for  re- 
stocking these  barren  places  and  for  supplying 
their  constituents  with  birds  for  common  shooting. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  professional  game 
breeders  who  supply  material  for  private  pre- 
serves and  sanctuaries  either  privately  or  publicly 
owned. 

There  are,  in  New  York,  three  state  game- 
farms,  the  oldest  of  which  was  established  in  1910. 
Each  farm  comprises  approximately  200  acres, 
and  its  chief  product  is  ring-necked  pheasants, 
those  birds  being  ideally  suited  for  stocking  the 
game  coverts  of  the  State;  but  considerable  at- 
tention is  paid  as  well  to  the  rearing  of  wood- 
ducks,  black  ducks,  and  mallards,  together  with 
quail,  ruffed  grouse,  and  turkeys.  Hens  are  util- 
ized for  raising  the  pheasants,  and  every  care  is 
taken  to  insure  natural  conditions  for  the  chicks  to 
grow  up  under.    After  the  chicks  are  four  days 


298    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

old  they  are  allowed  to  roam  at  will;  but  despite 
a  natural  tendency  to  run  wild  they  will  not  leave 
their  foster-mothers  until  nearly  full-grown. 
When  faur  or  five  weeks  old  the  little  birds  are 
fully  feathered  out  and  able  to  care  for  themselves. 
They  are,  however,  prevented  from  straying  by 
being  fed  daily  at  the  same  spot. 

A  total  of  55,400  pheasant  eggs  were  distri- 
buted in  1919  from  the  state  game-farms  of  New 
York  free  of  charge,  and  9206  half -grown  birds 
were  shipped  out  for  liberation  later  in  the  season. 
The  eggs  were  delivered  mainly  to  sportsmen,  with 
a  few  to  interested  farmers,  and  from  them  18,791 
birds  were  reared  and  liberated,  making  a  total  of 
28,000  pheasants  liberated  in  that  State  for  the 
year.  The  number  of  eggs  distributed  in  1921 
reached  103,300  and  birds  reared  and  released  by 
the  farms  numbered  11,377.  By  far  the  majority 
of  these  eggs  were  shipped  to  clubs  in  lots  of  1000 
to  5000,  and  the  number  of  birds  raised  and  liber- 
ated from  these  ranged  from  350  to  3300  pheasants 
for  each  lot. 

The  game-farms  of  other  States  have  been 
equally  prolific  in  their  production  of  much-needed 
game-birds,  but  at  present  only  about  a  dozen 
States  are  able  to  maintain  farms.  Some  States, 
Pennsylvania  and  Illinois,  for  example,  which 
thoroughly  believe  in  the  conservation  of  their 
game  resources  and  which  still  have  a  little  native 
game  left,  rely  mainly  upon  the  establishment  of 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH        299 

refuges  for  the  multiplication  of  their  birds,  with- 
out resort  to  propagation  farms.  If  fresh  game  is 
needed  to  restock  these  covers,  it  is  purchased 
from  private  dealers  or  breeders. 

There  are  now  about  10,000  game  breeders  in  the 
United  States.  Some  find  it  a  very  lucrative  busi- 
ness, for  the  largest  game  farmers  are  prepared 
to  sell  as  many  as  50,000  game-bird  eggs  in  a  single 
season.  Many  thousand  of  live  game-birds  are 
sold  every  year  to  clubs,  country  places,  and  state 
game  departments.  Quail  readily  bring  thirty 
dollars  a  dozen,  their  eggs  selling  from  six  to  eight 
dollars  a  dozen.  Ruffed  grouse  bring  from  ten  to 
twenty  dollars  a  pair,  while  turkeys  fetch  nearly 
twice  that  apiece.  Mallards  can  be  bought  at 
from  three  dollars  to  three  dollars  and  a  half  a 
pair,  and  their  eggs  at  fifteen  to  twenty  dollars 
a  hundred.  Pheasant  eggs  bring  from  thirty  to 
fifty  dollars  a  hundred. 

Many  other  people  rear  the  birds  for  the  sheer 
pleasure  they  derive  from  seeing  their  lands  re- 
stocked with  them.  Much  of  this  private  work  is 
furthered  by  game  breeding  associations  and  pro- 
tective societies,  whose  objects  are  to  conserve 
game  for  the  future  and  to  educate  the  sportsman 
to  raise  his  own  birds.  Several  large  breeding- 
farms  are  maintained  by  these  associations,  for 
demonstration,  for  experiment  in  rearing  the  diffi- 
cult species  of  game-birds,  and  for  stocking  sanc- 
tuaries. 


300    THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  BIRD  LIFE 

It  is  largely  due  to  the  propaganda  of  these  as- 
sociations that  the  present  intense  interest  among 
sportsmen  for  increased  protective  measures  has 
arisen.  The  theory  upon  which  they  wDrk  is  that 
upon  the  sportsman  rests  the  chief  onus  of  pro- 
ducing game  for  posterity.  Once  sportsmen  are 
taught  to  look  the  future  squarely  in  the  face  and 
to  forget  about  the  glorious  past,  except  as  a  hide- 
ous object-lesson,  they  will  begin  to  produce  sport 
for  their  descendants. 

The  future  of  birds  is  now  pretty  well  assured, 
not  only  in  America,  but  everywhere  else  in  the 
world.  It  has  been  stated  by  the  highest  authori- 
ties on  the  subject  that  the  age  of  mammals  is 
drawing  to  a  close  and  fifty  years  more  will  see  the 
last  of  virtually  all  the  wild  four-footed  creatures. 
But,  while  twenty  years  ago  a  similar  fate  seemed 
to  threaten  the  avian  world,  that  condition  has 
been  greatly  relieved.  The  world  may  yet  see 
an  **age  of  birds.*'  Many  species  are  still  bound 
to  pass  away, — their  ^* balance'*  has  been  upset 
and  their  numbers  have  been  reduced  below  the 
danger-point,  a  blighted  condition  from  which  the 
species  can  never  recover, — but  other  birds,  if  en- 
couraged, will  multiply  in  population  to  take  their 
places. 

The  time  is  not  far  off  when  conservation  of 
bird  life  throughout  the  world  will  overcome  de- 
struction, in  the  same  way  that  it  is  beginning  to  do 
so  in  America.     The  world-wide  traffic  in  plumage 


A  CONSERVATION  SKETCH         301 

is  approaching  an  end ;  nearly  tall  civilized  coun- 
tries have  excellent  and  wisely  devised  protec- 
tive bird-laws,  laws  which  are  improved  every 
year  by  the  governments  which  make  them  (Italy 
also  is  working  to  produce  a  code  of  such  laws) ; 
and  the  mass  of  people  are  becoming  educated  to 
what  birds  are  worth,  financially  and  otherwise. 
Birds  have  been  found  to  be  a  national  asset. 
They  will  therefore  be  saved.  If  they  are  able  to 
hold  their  own  and  thrive  in  civilized  communities, 
— regions  which  ordinarily  mean  death  and  de- 
struction to  wild  life  of  every  kind, — they  certainly 
will  survive  in  territories  inhabited  by  savage 
peoples — a  thing  they  have  accomplished  since  im- 
memorial time. 


APPENDIX 

r 

THE  EXTERMINATION  OF  AMERICAN  BIRDS  BY  MANKIND 

The  birds  in  the  appended  list  were  once  numer- 
ous, either  over  the  entire  United  States  or  in  the 
more  local  regions  which  were  their  native  habitat. 
Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  white  man  in 
America  their  extermination  began,  and  this  has 
been  followed  by  total  extinction  for  some  species, 
complete  extirpation  from  the  North  American 
continent  for  several,  and  the  ei'adication  from 
many  States,  where  once  they  abounded,  for  many 
others. 

Not  included  in  the  list  are  about  ten  or  a  dozen 
shorebirds,  several  species  of  heron,  and  a  num- 
ber of  song-birds,  which,  while  not  wholly  extir- 
pated from  any  one  particular  region,  are  now 
universally  rare.  No  birds  except  those  which 
have  definitely  suffered  at  the  hands  of  man  are 
to  be  found  on  the  list : 

Passenger  Pigeon 

Once  inhabited  about  forty  States ;  now  extinct. 
Carolina  Parrakeet 

Inhabited  about  thirty  States ;  now  extinct. 

302 


APPENDIX  303 

Labrador  Duck 

Once  found  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard;  now 
extinct. 
Ivory-billed  Woodpecker 

Inhabited  about  twenty-five  States ;  now  extermi- 
nated everywhere  except  possibly  in  Florida  and 
Louisana. 
PiLEATED  Woodpecker 

Inhabited  thirty  or  more  States;  now  exter- 
minated  in   at   least   four   States,    and   exceed- 
ingly rare  in  most  others. 
Whooping  Crane 

Once  inhabited  about  thirty-five  States;  now 
possibly  to  be  found  in  two,  Louisana  and  North 
Dakota. 
Sandhill  Crane 

Once  found  in  about  twenty-five  States;  exter- 
minated in  all  but  six,  where  it  is  exceedingly  rare. 
Great  Auk 

Inhabited  the  northern  Atlantic  seaboard;  now 
extinct. 
Eskimo  Curlew 

Once  found  in  thirty  or  more  States;  now  ex- 
tinct. 
Long-billed  Curlew 

Once  inhabited  thirty-five  or  more  States ;  now 
seen  casually  in  fourteen. 
Flamingo 

Found  in  the  Gulf  States ;  now  exterminated  in 
America. 


304  APPENDIX 

EosEATE  Spoonbill 

Found  in  the  Gulf  States ;  now  exterminated  in 
America. 
ScAELET  Ibis 

Found  in  the  Gulf  States ;  now  exterminated  in 
America. 
Snowy  Egret 

Once  inhabited  at  least  forty  States ;  now  exter- 
minated in  all  but  eleven,  and  rare  in  those. 
Heath  hen 

Once  abundant  in  northeastern  States ;  now  ex- 
terminated everywhere  except  on  the  state  reser- 
vation at  Martha's  Vineyard,  Massachusetts. 
"Wild  Turkey 

Once  found  in  nearly  forty  States;  now  exter- 
minated in  at  least  seventeen,  and  rare  in  most 
others. 
Upland  Plover 

Once  abundant  in  the  Atlantic  and  Middle  West 
States;  now  exterminated  in  at  least  seven,  and 
rare  in  all  others. 
Trumpeter  swan 

Now  exterminated  in  ten  States;  rare  every- 
where else. 
Wood  duck 

Now  exterminated  in  ^yb  States;  rare  every- 
where else. 
Buffed  Grouse 

Now  exterminated  in  three  States. 

The  following  species  have  been  exterminated  in 


APPENDIX  305 

one  State  or  more :  Ridgway  's  quail,  Dickcissel., 
NoRTHEKN  and  White-necked  Raven,  White  Peli- 
can, American  Scaup  duck,  Woodcqck,  Golden 
Plover,  Oyster-catcher,  Black-throated  Bunt- 
ing, Harlequin  Duck,  Hudsonian  Godwit,  Least 
Tern,  Eastern  Willet,  and  Pinnated  Grouse  or 
Prairie  Chicken. ^ 

1  The   above   data   were   compiled   mainly  from  "Our   Vanish- 
ing Wild  Life,"  by  Dr.  William  T.  Homaday. 


INDEX 


Accipiterinae,  Employed  in  fal- 
conry, 119 

Aeroplane,  Pigeons  flown  from, 
109 

Albatrosg,   Distribution,   5 
Slaughter  on  Laysan  Island, 

167 
Eggs  taken  as  food,  222 
Guano,  222 

Aldrovandi,  on  breeds  of  fowl, 
63 

American    Army,    Employment 
of  pigeons  in,   104-5 
Captures   pigeons   from   Ger- 
mans,   107 
Trains     pigeons     to     fly     by 
night,   108 

American  Guano  Co.,  Organ- 
ized, 206 

American    Ornithologists'    Un- 
ion 
Campaign     to     end     feather 

trade,  169 
It    draws    up    the    Audubon 

Law,  170 
Defines  game-birds,  236,  267 

Amphibians,  Number  of  spe- 
cies, 5 

Anchovy,  Great  numbers  eaten 
by  guano  birds,  199 

Argentina,  Ostrich  farms  of 
181 

Armada,  An  apparatus  for  kill- 
ing wild  duck,  227 

Audubon,  John  James,  Ob- 
serves enormous  flocks  of 
wild  pigeons,  6 

Audubon  Law,  Adoption  of, 
170 


Incorporated  with  federal  Mi- 
gratory Bird  Law,  275 
Audubon     Societies,     National 
Association  of, 
Founded,  172 

Campaign  for  bird  protection, 

278 

Automobile,    Employed    as    an 

accessory  to  shooting,  257 

Use    as    such    prohibited    in 

some  States,  268,  274 

Bag-limit,    controlled    by    law, 

275 
Baiting   pools   for   ducks,    147, 

225 
Bats,  Producers  of  guano,  196 
Battery,  Employed  in  shooting 

water-fowl,  226 
Bayne  Law,  Enacted,  230 
Belgian  Homers,  96 
Belgium,,  The  center  of  pigeon 

flying,  96 
Pigeons     captured     by     Ger- 
mans,  107 
"Bird-day,"       Established       in 

some  States,  290 
Bird-lime,    Employed    for    cap- 

turing   small   birds,    152 
Birds    of    paradise.     Character 

of  plumes  of,  156 
Hunted     for     their     plumes, 

167 
Birds,  Number  of  species,  5,  6 
Diseases  of,  8,  255 
Destruction  of  insects  by,  11, 

12,  32,  42,  53 
Destruction    of    rodents    by, 

36,   37 


307 


308 


INDEX 


Destruction   of   fruit  by,  41, 

42 
Destruction   of  grain  by,   43 
Effect  upon  vegetation,  13-18 
Effect    upon    locubt    plagues, 

31 
Enemies  of,  9,  10 
Man's    destruction    of,    287- 

289 
Money   value   of,   48-50,   286 
Bird-organ,  Use  of  in  training 

canaries,.    137 
Bison,  Vast  herds  of,  6 
Blackbirds,    As    grain    eaters, 

etc.,  42-44 
Bluebird,  53 
Bobolink,    44,    236;    marketing 

of,    228 
Brahma,   Origin   of   the   breed, 

66 
Breeding  of  birds  in  captivity, 

184 
Brown  Thrasher,  53 
"Bullet,"    The    pigeon    holding 
the  world's  record  for  1000- 
mile  flight.  98 
Bullfinch,       Training       it       to 
whistle,  137 
Numbers  imported  to  U.  S., 
138 

Cabbage   butterfly,   29 
Call-bird,   Used  to   lure  others 
into  a  cage,   153 
Employed  by  Italians,  216 
Call-ducks,   Uses    of,    146 
Canary,    Distribution    of    wild, 
135 
Breeds,    136 

Importations  into  U.  S.,  138 
Methods    of    shipment,    138 
Natural  color,  135 
Training,  of,  136 
Employed  in  the  detection  of 
noxious    gases,    143 
Canker  worm  destroyer,  33 
Cannon,    employed    by    market 
hunters,   226 


Caribou,  Vast  herds  of,  6 
Castings  ejected  by  hawks,  126 
Cat,   an   enemy   of   game-birds, 

256 
Catbirds,  The  number  of,  53 
Census  of  birds,  51 
Chase,  Henry 

Code    for    state    game-laws, 

273 
Cherries,     Destruction     of     by 

birds,  41 
Chestnut     blight     carried     by 

birds,  121 
Chili,   No   guano   beds   in,   204 
Chili-saltpetre,  Origin  of,   197; 

nitrate  beds  of  Peru,  204 
China,  Bird  nests  eaten  in,  223 
Chincha   Islands,   The  home  of 

guano  birds,  198,  199,  202. 
History  of,  202 
Destruction    of    guano    beds, 

203-4,  208 
Mortgaged    to    private    cor- 
porations 208 
Cholera.    Transmitted    to    pigs 

by  vultures,  21 
Cock-fighting,  60,  61 
Cockatoos,  As  pets,  140 
Collodion,  Messages  written  on 

for  carrying  pigeons,  103 
Color,  Of  feathers,  157,  158 

In  domestic  pigeons,  91 
Columella,   On  breeds  of  fowl, 

63 
Compania    Administradora   del 

Guano 
Scientific  methods  of  protect- 
ing guano  birds,  210 
Condor,    Sought    for    feathers, 

168 
Conservation 
Policy  of  U.  S.    government 

and  factors  governing,  289 
Its  future  in  America  and  the 

world,  300 
Cormorant,  99 

Food  of,  19,  20,  199 
Life  history,  200 


INDEX 


309 


Producer  of  guano,  199 
Rookeries    on    the    Chinchas, 

200 
Trained       to       catch       fish, 
131 
Crawfish,    Destruction    by    her- 
ons, 55,  56 
Croix  de  Guerre,  Awarded  to  a 

pigeon,   107 
Crow,  42,  45,  53,  58 
Trained  to  talk,  142 
Dead    crows     as     lures     for 

hawks,,   151 
As   food,    218 
Curling    irons    used    to    shape 
ostrich  plumes,   183 

Darwin,  Charles 
On  duck  breeds,  82 
On   the    origin    of    domestic 
pigeons,   87,   88 
Decoys,  Artificial  types,  146 
Crows  used  to  entice  hawks, 

151 
Live  decoys,  147 
Employed  against  ducks  and 

shorebirds,  145 
Stuffed  owl  used,  152 
Digestion  of  seeds,  13,  14 
Disease,   Among  birds,  20,  21; 
among  game-birds,  225 
Birds  as  carriers  of,  21 
Dixon,   Dr.    Samuel   G.,  Eradi- 
cation of  mosquito   larvae 
by,  54 
Dodo,  Destruction  of,  234 
Down,  Commercial,  186 
Where  obtained,  186 
Eider-down,  188 
Manufacture,    192 
Duck,  Domestic,  82 

Possibility     of    wide     varia- 
tion in,  82 
Breeds,   82 
Muscovy  duck,  84 
Production  of  down^  192 
Ducks 

Wood,      55;      Mallard,      54; 


Green-winged       teal,       54, 

Muscovy,  84. 

Speed  of  flight,  99 

Shot  for  the  market,  227. 

Slaughter  of,  240 
Duck-shooting,    145-148,    242 
Dutcher,    William,   Founder   of 

the  Audubon   Societies,    171 
Dyeing,  of  ostrich  plumes,  183 

Eagle,   Used    in   falconry,    117, 
130 
The  quarry  of,   127 
Feathers    used    in    the    mil- 
linery  trade,    162 
Educational      work      in      orni- 
thology 
In  schools,  colleges,  by  game 
commissions  and  Audubon 
Societies,  290 
Eggs   of   birds  used    for    food, 
213 
By  the  Eskimo,  213 
By   the   Icelanders,    190,   219 
Gull  eggs  used,  218 
Depletion    of    rookeries,    220 
Vessels     outfitted      for      egg 

raids,  220 
Marketing  of  bird  eggs,  221 
Egret    breeding    in     captivity, 

185 
Egret  farms.  The  non-existence 

of,  185 
Eider-dowTi,  Method  of  obtain- 
ing, 190,  191 
Eider  duck 

Distribution,   189 
Eggs  as   human   food,    189 
Bearing  in   Iceland,   189 
Semi-domestication     in     Ice- 
land,  190,   191 
Slaughter     for     down     along 
the    Labrador    coast,     187 
England 

Pigeons    used    during    war, 

104 
Scope  of  millinery  trade  in, 
165;    its  suppression,  175 


310 


INDEX 


Birds  killed  for  food  in,  217 
Game  preserves,  in,  217 
Definition    of   game-birds    in, 
237 
Eskimo,  His  use  of  bird  eggs  as 

food,  213 
Evolution  of  game  laws  in  the 

U.  S.,  265 
Extinction  of  birds,  302-5. 
Eyess,  The  training  of  an,  121 

Falcon,   Number   of  species  of, 
117 

Flight  of,  118 

Use  of  a  dog  in  training,  124 

Quarry  of,   127 
Falconry,    114 

History  ot,  114-16;  as  a 
noble   sport,    116. 

Types  of  hawks  employed, 
L17-20 

Terms  used  in,   120 

The  training  of  the  hawks, 
121-25;  their  food,  126; 
127 

Ancient  laws  pertaining  to, 
128 

Modern    falconry,    120-31;    in 

India,    130;    Turkestan,    129, 
Siberia,  130 
Farallone   Islands,   Their   rook- 
eries depleted  by  egg  hunt- 
ers, 221 
Feather    dusters.    Manufacture 

of,    194 
Feather   Voyages,    187 
Feathers,  Origin,  structure  and 
types  of,  154-7 

Employed  by  savages,  160 

Artificial,  174 

Their  use  as  down,  186 

Their  use  in  the  manufacture 
of  toys,  etc.,  194 
Federal   Migratory    Bird   Law, 
44 

Permitting  Indians  and  Es- 
kimos to  kill  birds,  159 


Passage  of  the  Act,  230,  263, 

268,   278-80 
Interpretation     of    the     law, 
271 
Cooperation     in     the     law     by 

the  States,  272i 
Federal     ownership     of     birds, 

263 
Field-mice,  36,  37,  38,  49 
Filoplume,  Description   of,   156 
Fire,     A     cause     of     mortality 

among  game-birds,  255 
Fish,    The    number    of    species 

of,  5 
Flight  of  birds.  Speed  of,  99 
Their    destruction    by    birds, 
19,  20 
Fly,    Artificial,    Manufactured 

from  feathers,  194 
Fowl,    History   of   and    breeds, 
61-63 
Artificial  selections  of,  66 
Feathers    utilized    as    down, 
186,    192 
France 

Pigeons      employed      during 

war  in,   103,   105 
Laws    governing    the    killing 

of  song  birds,  214,  215 
Game-birds  in,  234 
Franco-Prussian      War,      Mes- 
sages   carried    from    Paris 
by     pigeons     during,     103 

Game-birds 

The  number  of  in  the  U.  S. 
and  number  of  gunners, 
231 

The  value  of  birds,  232, 

Their  definition,  234;  in  Eng- 
land,  237 

Number  of  species  in  the 
U.  S.  238 

Mortality  of,  through  disease, 
254;  through  fire,  255; 
through       vermin,       256 ; 


INDEX 


311 


through  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  257;  through  use  of 
automobiles,   257. 

Their  increase  under  present 
laws,  282 
Game-breeding,   Number   of   es- 
tablishments in  the  U.  S., 
299 

Prices      obtained      for      live 
game-birds,  299 

Game-cock,  59 

Game-farms 

State  farms,  294 

Description     of     New     York 
State  farms,  297. 

The     production     of     game- 
birds,  298 
Game-Laws. 

History   of   in   England,   260 

Theories  on,  259 

EflFect   of    State    laws     upon 
birds,  263 

Evolution    of    in    the    U.    S., 
265 

Reforms,    266 

Laws    of    New    York    State, 
269;    of  Long  Island,  270. 

Game  code  of  U.  S.,  274. 

Weaknesses  of  the  American 
game-laws,   282 
Game-preserves,      History      of, 
295 

Private  preserves  in   the   U. 
S.,  296;   their  merit  296 
Gannet,  as  a  producer  of  guano, 

199,  201 
Goldfish,     employed     in     eradi- 
cating mosquito  larvae,  55 
Goose,  Domestic,  80 

History,    production    of,    and 
breeds,  80-82 
Production     of     pate     de    foie 
gras,  81 

Commercial   down  from,   191 

Geese    reared    especially    for 
plucking,    192 
Goose,  Wild 


Graylag  the  forefather  of  do- 
mestic breeds,  81 

Canada  goose  under  domesti- 
cation, 82 

Use  of  live  decoys  in  shoot- 
ing,   148-50 

Slaughter  of,  241 

Goshawk,   127,   123 
Grain   destroyed   by   birds,   42, 

43 
Ground    birds    easy    prey    for 

hawks,  256 
"Grouse  disease,"  The  virulence 

of,  255 
Grouse,  Ruffed,  46 

On  the  market,  226 

Bounty  placed  on,  235 

Slaughter  of,  250 

Its  alteration  of  habits,  251 

Open    season    for,    209, 
Guano,  Definition  of,  196 

Constituents  of,  197,  198 

History  of,  202;  introduced 
to  Europe,  203;  sought  by 
U.   S.,  205-8; 

Amount  exported  from  Peru, 
209 

Amount  now  produced  by 
Peru,  211 

Value    set    on    guano    birds, 
211 
Guano    Act,    Passed    by    Con- 
gress, 207 

Results  of,  207-8 
Guinea-fowl,   83 

History    and    production,    83 

Maintained      on      farms      in 
places  of  dogs,  142 
Gulls,  58,   162 

A  monument  raised  to^  31 

Easily  lured  to  the  gunner 
150 

Hawk 

Cooper's,  9,  39,  119 
Duck  hawk,  39,  117 
Goshawk,   9,   39,   119 


312 


INDEX 


Kestrel,  118 
Merlin,  127 
Osprey,   131 

Peregrine,    117,    126,    127 
Pigeon  hawk,  39,   117 
Red-shouldered,  10,  39 
Eed-tailed,  10,  39 
Sharp-shinned,  9,  39,  119 
Sparrow,    10,    11,   39,    117 
Hawks 

Descent  upon  rodent  hordes, 

38 
Food  of,  38,  39 
Value  of  in  money,  49 
Trained  by  Germans  to  cap- 
ture homing  pigeons,  103 
Feathers  used    in    millinery, 
162 
Heath   hen,   The    slaughter    of 
the,  225 
Former    numbers,    and    their 

slaughter,  247 
Survivors   at  Martha's  vine- 
yard,   248;     partially    de- 
stroyed by  fire,  293 
Heron,  as  a  destroyer  of  craw- 
fish,   56 
Humboldt    Valley,    The   rodent 
plague  of,  38 

Iceland,  The  eider-down  indus- 
try of,  189-91 
Ichneumon-fly  as  a  parasite,  28 
Imprisonment    for    stealing    a 

falcon,  129 
Incubator,    used     in     hatching 

ostrich  eggs,    178 
Insects,,  The  number  of  species 
of,    11,    12 
As  food  for  birds,  11,  12,  22, 

32,  33 
Their  destruction  by  Nature, 

12 
Parasitical,    12,    28,   29,    32 
Rate  of  production,  27 
Vegetable  eating,  27,  28,   32 
Predatory,  28 
Iridescence  in  feathers,  158 


Italy 

Destruction  of  birds  for 
food  in,  214 

The  killing  of  birds  on  a 
scientific  basis,  216;  meth- 
ods   employed,    216-7 

Game-laws  of,  212,  234 

Jackdaws  As  talkers,  142 
Jungle  Fowl,  The  Red,  61 

Kestrel,  A  poor    bird    for    fal- 
conry, 118 
Kingbird,   53 

Labrador    duck.    Its    slaughter 
for  down  along  the  Labra- 
dor coast,   187 
Its   extinction,    188 
Lacey,  Act,  173;  its  enactment, 

267,  277 
Landowner,  Rights  to  game  in 
England,  261 
Renting    of    shooting   rights, 
261 
Laws. 

France,   214 

Norway,  217 

Sweden,   217 

England,  217,  260 

United  States,  222,  227,  230, 

243,  250 
Prohibiting  the  sale  of  game, 
229 
Laysan  Island.     The  attack  up- 
on   its    albatross    rookery, 
166 
Guano   deposits   on,  208 
Corporation    formed   to   take 
eggs  from,  222 
Leghorn  fowl.  Origin  of,   66 
Lemmings,  The    migration    of, 

37 
Licenses   issued    for    shooting, 
231 
Law  first  established,  267 
How   to  obtain   a   license   in 

New  York  State,  271 
Laws  concerning,   275 


INDEX 


313 


Lobos    Islands,   The    home    of 
guano  birds,  198 
Mortgaged  to  private  corpo- 
rations, 208 

Locusts,  Plagues  of,  31 

Lost  Battalion  located  by  pige- 
ons,  106 

Lure,   The   falconer's,    122 

Magpie,  As  a  talker,  142 
Mammal,    Number    of    species 

of,  5 
Man,  Superior  to  beast,  158 
Market    hunters,    Development 
of   the   profession     in    the 
U.  S.,  225 
Income  of,  229 
Marketing  the  game 
In  England,  218 
Value  received,  218 
Sale   prohibited,    230 
Martha's  Vineyard,  248,  293 
Maryland    experimental    farm, 

33,   34,  42,  43 
Mattress,  Chicken  feathers  em- 
ployed in  making,  192 
Merlin,  Food  of  the,  127 
Messages    carried    by    pigeons, 

102 
Milliner    trade,    The    develop- 
ment of  the,   163,   171 
Numbers    of    birds    killed   to 

supply  the,  164 
Its  struggle  against  suppres- 
sion,  171-2 
Millinery    Association,    174 
Miuas,  As  talkers,  142 
Mistletoe  planted  by  birds,    16 
Monaco,    Pigeon    shooting    at, 
95 
Monkeys     eaten     by     hawk- 
eagles,  18 
Moose  Hill  Bird  Sanctuary,  293 
Mosquitos   destroyed  by  ducks, 

54 
Moulting  of  ducks,  187 
Murphy,   R.   C,   Reports  great 
cormorant   rookeries,    7 


Murre,   Depletion   of   rookeries 

bv  egg  hunters,  221 
Myles"  Standish  Forest,  293 

Napoleon,  established  game- 
laws,  214 

Nests,  Edible  bird.  Description 
and   value,    223-4 

New  York  Zoological  Society, 
Educational  campaign  for 
the  passage  of  a  Federal 
Migratory  Bird  Law  insti- 
tuted by,  279 

Night,  Pigeons,  trained  to  fly 
to  red  light  at,   108 

Night-hawk,  53,  54 

Nitrogen,  Its  content  in  guano, 
197 

Norway,  Protection  of  birds  in, 
217 

Nutmegs  spread  by  fruit 
pigeons,  16 

Ostrich 

Character  of  plumes,  156 
Hunted  down,  168,  176-7 
Eggs  used  as  food,  176 
Bred  to  captivity,   177;   pro- 
duction,      178;       breeding 
habits,    178;    artificial    in- 
cubation,    179;     plucking, 
179,  181 
Number  of  plumes  per  bird, 
179 

Manufacture  of  plumes, 
182-3 

Ostrich  farming   in  the  U.   S., 
181 
Number   of   birds   used,    181, 

184;    their   value,    181 
Development    of    the    trade, 
183;    its    failure;    184 
Osprey,   Trained   to   fish,    131 
Owl 
Great  horned,  9,  39 
Screech,  39 
Barn,  39 
Long-eared,   39 


314 


INDEX 


Short-eared,  39 
Owls,  Their  descent  upon  rodent 
plagues,  38 
Their  food,  39 

Palmer,    Dr.    T.    S.,    Principles 
of  game-laws  set  forth  by, 
264 
Work  in  conservation,  289 
Parrots, 

Kea  parrots  attacking  sheep, 

47 
Amazons  as  talkers,  140 
Macaws   as   talkers,   140 
Partridge 

Its  speed  of  flight,  99 
As    quarry    in    falconry,    125 
Used  in  training  falcons,  123, 
125 
Pekin  duck,  83 
Pelican 

Possible    use    of    in    fishing, 

133 
Production  of  guano  by,  199 
Rookeries  on   Lobos   Islands, 

201 
Life  history  of  the,  201 
Pennsylvania,      State      conser- 
vation    system     excellent, 
294 
Penguin,  5,  7 

"People's   Home    Journal,"    Its 
campaign      for     bird     ref- 
uges,  296 
Peregine,  Its  distribution,  117; 

food,    126 
Peru,  The  home  of  guano  birds, 
198 
Wealthy    because    of    nitrate 

and  guano  beds,  204-5 
War    with    Chili,    205 
Exhaustion     of     guano     de- 
posits,   208 
Petrels,  5 
Phalaropes,  5 
Pheasant 
Gives    warning    of    Zeppelin 
raids,    143 


Shooting  season  and  bag-limit 
for    in   New   York   States, 
269 
Pigeon 

Difference     between      pigeon 
and  dove,  87 

Fruit  pigeon,  16 

Crowned  pigeon  hunted,   167 

Mourning  dove  as    a    game- 
bird,  237;    the  baiting  of, 
254 
Pigeon,  Homing 

Speed  of   flight,   99 

Development    of    homing    in- 
stinct, 100 

Training    of,    100-1 

Use  in  Franco-Prussian  War, 
103;    in  W^orld   War,   104 
Pigeon  loft,   100,   111;   in  war, 

106 
Pigeon  milk,   111 
Pigeon,     passenger,     6,     8,     45 

Vast    flocks    and    their    de- 
struction, 226 

Market  value  of,  226 
Pigeon    shoot    in    New    Jersey, 

95 
Pigeons,  Domestic,  86 

Historical,   86 

Ancestry,  87 

Breeds.  87,  88,  89 

Fan-tail,    90 

Runt,  91 

Colors,    91 

Tumblers    and    rollers,    92-3 

Shooting  of,  93-5 

Flying  of,  96 

Distances  flown,   98 

Record    flights,    98 

Homing  birds,   100 

Training  of,   101 

As  messengers,    102 

Use  in  war,  104-9 

Accustomed  to  gun-fire,  106-8 
Trained  to  fly  to  red  lights, 

108 
Squab-raising,   110-12 


INDEX 


315 


Production   in   U.   S.,    112-13 
Pigment  in  feathers,  157 
Pitch,  A  term  in  falconry,  124 
Plant-lice    destroyed,    33 
Plucking  of  feathers 
Ostrich    plumes,    180-1 
Breast    feathers     by     female 

eider  duck,  190 
Of  geese,   192 
Plume    hunters,    Methods    em- 
ployed by,  161,  163-4;   166 
Plumes 

Character   in   different  birds, 

156,    162 
Early  use  in  Europe,  160 
When  first  worn  by  women, 

161 
Ostrich,  179 ;  their  manufac- 
ture,   182 
Plymouth   Rock,  The  result  of 

several   crosses,   64 
Population   of   birds,    4,    5,   52, 

53 
Posting    land,    Its    prose    and 

cons,   295 
Potato  beetle  destroyed,  33 
Poultry 

Production  of  in  America,  68, 

73-4;    in   England,   69 
Incubators  used,   70 
The    rearing    of,    70;    squab- 
broilers;    71;   broilers,  72; 
roasters,  72 
The  process  of  cramming,  73 
Killing  for  the  market,   73 
Production    of    eggs,    74;    in 

England,  77 
Proper  feeding,  75 
Use  of  trap  nests  and  arti- 
ficial  light,  75,   76 
Consumption      of     eggs,      in 

U.  S.,  76 
Value  of  world's  poultry,  77 
Prairie    chicken 

Snot  for  the  market,  229 
Great  slaughter  of,  248 
Effect  upon   cultivation,   249 
Protection  of,  250 


Quail 

Bob-white  as  a  destroyer  of 
insects,  33,  35;  of  weeds, 
34-5 

The  marketing  of,  229 

Slaughter  of,  252 

They  make  ideal  shooting  for 
the  sportsman,  253 

Shooting  seasons,  269 
Quill  pens.  History  and  manu- 
facture of,  193-4 

Rails,    A    number    of    termed 

game-birds.  253 
Refuges  for  birds 

Type  of  land  used,,  291 
How  employed,  292-4 
In  Pennsylvania,  294 
A  campaign  for,  and  its  re- 
sults,  296-7 
Reptiles,     Number     of     species 

of,  5 
Rhea,  Extinction  threatened  of, 

168 
Rhinoceros-bird,  22,   47 
Rhode   Island   Red,  The  origin 

of,  65 
Robin,  46,  52,  236 

Killed  for   market,   228,  236 
Most  numerous  native  Ameri- 
can bird.  52-3 
Roccolo,  An  Italian  method  of 
trapping  birds,  216 
Number    of    birds    captured, 
217 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  The  Father 
of     conservation      in     the 
U.   S.,  289 

Sanctuaries     for     birds      (See 

Refuges ) 
"Schoolmaster"      canary,      137 
Seed  spread  by  birds,    16,    17 
Sheep   killed    by   parrots,    47-8 
Shorebirds 

Easily  lured  by  decoys,  145, 

244 
Marketing    of,    228 


316 


INDEX 


Great     numbers     of,     243-4; 
and  slaughter  of,  245 
Skins  of  birds 

Used  by  savages,  159 
Commercial  uses  of,  162 
Slaves  on  strike  because  of  eat- 
ing too  many  wild  ducks, 
240 
South  Africa,  Ostrich  farming 

in,    177,    180 
Sparrow,  English 

Destruction  of  seventeen  year 
locusts  by,  33;  of  grain  by, 
42 
History    of    introduction     to 
America,      45-6;       present 
population,  53 
Squab  rising,     110-12 
State  rights 

Concerning  game-birds,   262 
Infringement  upon  by  Federal 
Government,  268 
Strawberries       destroyed       by 

birds,  41 
Sudanese,  Rearing  of  ostriches 

by,  180 
Swallow,  Barn,  54 
Swan,  Feathers  used  for  down, 

192 
Sweden,  Protection  of  birds  in, 

217 
Swift,  54 

Talking   birds,    139;    and    how 

taught,  141 
Terns 

Easily  lured  to  the  gunner, 

150 
Commercial  skins,  162 
11,000    killed    by    one    man, 
164 
Texas,  Depletion  of  gull  rook- 
eries in,  220 
Themistocles,   59-60 
Trapping 

The  art  developed  by  the  an- 
cients, 144 
The  taking  of  hawks  and  song 

birds  in  decoys,  151 
Cage    trap    described,    152-3 


Methods    employed   in    Italy, 
216 

Forbidden  by  law,  274 
Treaty    with    Canada    concern- 
ing Migratory  birds,   280; 
its  scope,  280-1 
Tumbler    pigeon,   The   training 
of,  92,  93 

Causes   of  tumbling,   93 
Turkey,    Domesticated,    78 

History  of  domestication,  78 

Origin   of   the  name,   78 

Breeds,    79 

Vulnerability   to   disease,    79 

Production  in  the  U.   S.,   79 
Turkey,   Wild 

Marketing,  229 

Former  numbers,  246 

Present    range,    247 

Shooting  seasons,  274 

U.    S.   Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, 33,  38,  51 
Campaign    to   defeat   feather 

trade,    169 
A  definition  of  game-birds  by* 
236 

Venezuela,    Egrets    Icilled    for 

their  plumes  in,   186 
Verdun,    Pigeons    employed    at 

the  battle  of,  106 
Vulture 
Turkey,  57 
Old  World,  57 

War 

Pigeons  used  in,  104-9 
Birds  as  food  in,  218 
Water -fowl 

Destruction  of,  226,  240 

Numbers  in  America,  239-40 

Weapons  employed  in  shooting, 

228 ;    and    laws    governing 

their  use,  274-5 

Weeds  destroyed  by  birds,  35, 

36 
Wren,  House,  53 
Wyandotte,   The  origin  of  the 
breed.  65 


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